Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Resource Type: Chromolithographs

Springfield Bicycle Club

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1883
maker
Milton Bradley and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2813
catalog number
60.2813
accession number
228146

Catching a Mascalonge

This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 8. Catching a Mascalonge. Frank H. Taylor. It depicts three men in a boat pulling in a fish identified as a mascalong or musky.
The artist, Frank H. Taylor (1846-1927), was an illustrator, author, and photographer based in Philadelphia.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Taylor, Frank Hamilton
ID Number
DL.60.2724
catalog number
60.2724
accession number
228146

Chromolithograph entitled "Custer's Last Fight"

Custer’s Last Fight is considered one of if not the most reproduced lithographs of the late 19th and most of the 20th Centuries with over a million copies distributed to saloons, dining establishments, barber shops, and eventually collectors.
Description
Custer’s Last Fight is considered one of if not the most reproduced lithographs of the late 19th and most of the 20th Centuries with over a million copies distributed to saloons, dining establishments, barber shops, and eventually collectors. This print was used as an advertising promotion for Budweiser Beer by Anheuser Busch. It is chromolithograph on paper mounted on cardboard that is based on the Cassilly Adams painting which in turn was inspired by the narrative of the battle by a scout named Curley, along with probably the success of the John Mulvany 1881 painting Custer’s Last Fight .
The Cassilly Adams painting that this print copied was started about 1885 and completed in 1888 in Adams studio using soldiers and Native Americans as models. The completed work toured the Midwest before being sold to John Ferber, who owned a saloon in St Louis, Missouri. Adolphus Busch acquired the painting along with a saloon when the owner couldn't pay his bills for the sum of $35,000 in 1892. Eager to have the original copied for advertising, he commissioned the Milwaukee Lithographic Engraving Company. The artist, F. Otto Becker, produced a 24X40 inch painting which was a modified copy of the Cassilly Adams painting. After the Becker copy was made, the original Adams painting was presented to the 7th Cavalry it was moved about until it was damaged. It was then sent to the WPA in Boston for restoration in the 1930's and when returned, it hung in the officer's club at Fort Bliss, Texas until it was destroyed by fire on June 13, 1946.
The 1892 Becker painting was created only to be divided into six sections and given to the lithographers to create the color plates used to produce the 1896 chromolithographic advertising prints. The Becker painting was then pieced back together and restored to hang in the St. Louis board room of Anheuser-Busch, Incorporated.
Based on photographs of the Adams original, the Becker version is more topographically correct but also more graphically explicit as an interpretation of the very violent event. The color print depicts the battle between General Custer's troops and Indian warriors at Little Big Horn. Custer is featured at center waving a saber and dressed in a fringed buckskin. The remaining cavalry officers, except for Custer's brother Tom, are dressed in military uniform. Indians are armed with scalping knives, tomahawks, clubs, spears, and rifles. The dead appear in foreground, with several identified in the bottom margin. The background depicts a peaceful landscape, though there is a hint of the thousands of Indians that significantly outnumbered Custer and his men. Custer's medals and banners are depicted in lower left margin. In the lower right margin is an image of a Native American on horseback posing beside the granite monument for the 7th US Cavalry that was erected in 1881 at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Text below the image advertises the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Assn.
There have been numerous commentaries on the historic inaccuracies of the depiction which was designed for maximum emotional impact. These inaccuracies range from the length of Custer’s hair which is depicted as long and flowing, when he had days prior had it cut short, to the dress or undress of the depicted Indians and the types of weapons. The artist also included a long red cravat around Custer’s neck, which was mentioned by Libby Custer in her book on her husband. The visual impact of the print version has also been the subject of several notable comments, including this print’s collector, Harry T. Peters, who mentioned in America on Stone that “The detail is endless and extremely lurid, and anyone who saw this print when young will not forget it.” Clearly the artist was successful in gaining reactions to the piece, if not always favorable ones.
Versions of the advertising print vary according to margin size and legend content, but the first run edition resulted in 15,000 prints. According to America on Stone the museum’s copy should have a signature of "O. Becker" in the right lower corner, but it does not. Nor does it have the caption "Taken from the Artist's Sketches. The Original Painting by Cassilly Adams." Supposedly that would indicate it as the earliest edition. Other versions of this print also give a fuller list of those depicted on the image and some further advertise Anheuser Busch as "The World's Largest Brewery" and "Home of Budweiser." However, based on the collector’s purchasing and the condition of the print it would have been produced between 1896 and 1920. There have since been 18 subsequent editions totaling more than a million copies according to Anheuser-Busch. Copies continued to be issued until the 1970's when the cultural awareness of Native Americans began to affect the marketability of the print. New copies of the print are still mass produced and marketed.
Cassilly Adams (1843-1921) was an engraver and painter. He learned to paint at the Boston Academy of Arts and the Cincinnati Art School and later worked in Indiana, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri.
F. Otto Becker (1854-1945) was a German American Artist employed by the Milwaukee Lithographic and Engraving Company. He was active in Milwaukee and St. Louis from 1881 until his death, producing lithographs for board games as well as prints. He is best known for his work on Custer's Last Fight.
Milwaukee Lithographing was founded by German-American Henry Seifert in 1852. In the 1870's, he partnered with Henry and Julius Gugler to form the Milwaukee Lithographic & Engraving Company. Augustus Koenig, a friend of Adolphus Busch, became involved with the company in the late 1880's. The company continued to operate until 1920.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1896-1920
depicted
Custer, Thomas Ward
Rain In The Face
Cooke, William W.
Yates, George W.
Reed, Harry Armstrong
Reily, William Van W.
Smith, Algernon E.
Custer, George Armstrong
copyright holder
Busch, Adolphus
commissioned by
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Incorporated
originator
Adams, Cassily
maker
Milwaukee Lithographic & Engraving Company
artist
Becker, F. Otto
ID Number
DL.60.2600
catalog number
60.2600
accession number
228146

Green Winged Teal

Colored print of two ducks (green winged teal) in a marshy habitat beside a pond. The female appears ready for flight and the male lies dead or wounded.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of two ducks (green winged teal) in a marshy habitat beside a pond. The female appears ready for flight and the male lies dead or wounded.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877-1878
artist
Pope, Jr., Alexander
lithographer
Armstrong and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2716
catalog number
60.2716
accession number
228146

A Home in the Country

Colored print; country scene with Dutch-colonial farm houses along a country lane with picket and split rail fences, and a church with cupola in the background. Lane is filled with school children and some adults.
Description (Brief)
Colored print; country scene with Dutch-colonial farm houses along a country lane with picket and split rail fences, and a church with cupola in the background. Lane is filled with school children and some adults. Four children are swinging on a gate at right, a girl sits pensively under a tree at center. Text beginning "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood," appears below the image on either side of the title.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
maker
Kelly, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.2455
catalog number
60.2455
accession number
228146

Chickens I

Chromolithograph of five chickens, two black and three yellow. Two are struggling with an insect of which they both have a hold. Tufts of grass and weeds in background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Chromolithograph of five chickens, two black and three yellow. Two are struggling with an insect of which they both have a hold. Tufts of grass and weeds in background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866
maker
Prang, Louis
Harring, William
artist
Tait, Arthur Fitzwilliam
ID Number
DL.60.2344
catalog number
60.2344
accession number
228146

Sailing for Bluefish

This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 10. Sailing for Bluefish. Fred. S. Cozzens. It depicts three men in a sailboat. Two of the men are fishing and the third is steering the rudder. Other sailboats and a lighthouse are in background.
The artist was Frederic Schiller Cozzens (1846-1928) who was known for maritime scenes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
artist
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
maker
Cozzens, Frederic Schiller
ID Number
DL.60.2719
catalog number
60.2719
accession number
228146

War

Colored print of a little girl holding an ornate curved sword and sheath. She wears a cape and a plumed hat.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a little girl holding an ornate curved sword and sheath. She wears a cape and a plumed hat.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2462
catalog number
60.2462
accession number
228146

Central Park, N.Y. Winter Sports

Colored print; outdoor winter scene depicting children skating on frozen lake. In foreground a man and woman ride in a two-horse open sleigh. At right, a girl descends stone steps with a small dog on a leash.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print; outdoor winter scene depicting children skating on frozen lake. In foreground a man and woman ride in a two-horse open sleigh. At right, a girl descends stone steps with a small dog on a leash.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2465
catalog number
60.2465
accession number
228146

Pinnated Grouse

Colored print of two pinnated grouse, a male and female in a grassy field.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of two pinnated grouse, a male and female in a grassy field.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
artist
Pope, Jr., Alexander
lithographer
Armstrong and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2714
catalog number
60.2714
accession number
228146

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Combined with Pawnee Bill's Great Far East

This colored poster print is a bust portrait of an American Indian woman, depicted on the image of a large arrowhead.
Description
This colored poster print is a bust portrait of an American Indian woman, depicted on the image of a large arrowhead. She is identified as "’Arrowhead,’ Belle of the Tribe.”
Buffalo Bill's Wild West was one of the most successful American variety shows of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The touring production was created by William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), who promoted his ventures with the help of posters, billboards and other media innovations of the time. Cody was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory, and lived in Canada before moving with his family to the Kansas Territory. His father was an outspoken opponent of slavery who died following a bloody attack by pro-slavery settlers when Cody was eleven years old. Forced to go to work to support his mother and siblings, he went on to become a buffalo hunter, guide and civilian scout and soon gained a reputation as a daring frontiersman and Indian fighter.
Nicknamed Buffalo Bill, Cody polished that reputation recounting campfire tales that mingled fact, exaggeration and outright fiction. His growing fame inspired a series of dime novels and helped launch Cody on a traveling stage career as the star of frontier melodramas. He had a natural gift for showmanship, a knack for homespun humor, and a western hero’s rugged good looks: he was often photographed holding a rifle and dressed in a buckskin suit with a wide brimmed hat and shoulder length hair. Hoping to expand his appeal to attract more middle-class family audiences, Cody launched his Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1883. The outdoor variety show featured vignettes from frontier history, sharp shooting demonstrations, and riding stunts, with Buffalo Bill in a starring role as the expert marksman on horseback. He rounded out the cast with an ever widening and more diverse group of performers, including Lakota Sioux Indians, frontier cowboys, Mexican vacqueros, and Argentine gauchos. He added a female performer in 1885—sharpshooter Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey, 1860-1926)— who was so skilled with a gun that she could shoot a dime from between her husband’s thumb and forefinger. After the show expanded to become Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders in 1893, it also featured European cavalry, Cossacks and Arab horsemen.
The Wild West show toured throughout the United States and Europe. Its success was fueled by popular nostalgia for America’s fading frontier. But the show also flourished as America modernized, relying on train travel and new technologies like electric lighting to reach and entertain audiences. Cody inspired a host of imitators, whose productions were often referred to simply as Buffalo Bill shows.
By the early twentieth century, Buffalo Bill’s heroic image had been tarnished by a scandalous divorce trial, and his show faced growing competition from the fledgling film industry. In 1909 he merged with a former rival, Gordon William Lillie, to create Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East. The Great Far East Show was an ensemble group founded by Gordon William Lillie (1860-1942), nicknamed Pawnee Bill. Born in Illinois, Lillie had worked for the Pawnee Indian Agency and also served as a Pawnee interpreter for Buffalo Bill's Wild West. The combined production, sometimes called the “Two Bills Show,” featured traditional frontier acts with more exotic attractions like elephants, camels, and belly dancers. Mounting debt and a series of bad investments eventually forced Buffalo Bill to declare bankruptcy and shut down the show in 1915. When he died in 1917 in Denver, Colorado, his passing was noted by prominent figures ranging from European royalty to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The town of Cody, Wyoming, which he helped found in 1896, is the site of a museum complex called the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
This chromolithograph was produced by Strobridge Lithographing Company. The Strobridge firm was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio ca 1847 by lithographer Elijah J. Middleton (cited in some sources as Elijah C. Middleton). Middleton was known as one of the pioneers of chromolithography in the United States. By 1854 another lithographer, W. R. Wallace, along with the bookseller Hines Strobridge (1823-1909) had joined the firm as partners. After the Civil War, Strobridge acquired sole ownership of the company and renamed it after himself. Strobridge and Company became especially well known for circus, theater, and movie posters. After leaving the company, Elijah Middleton established a reputation as a portrait publisher, producing prints of George and Martha Washington, Daniel Webster, and other American historical figures.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1908
maker
Strobridge Lithographing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3004
catalog number
60.3004

Kirlafy Bro's "Michael Strogoff"

This colored print depicts a battlefield covered with dead and dying people. A burnt log cabin stands on the left and a Russian Orthodox church with onion domes (likely St. Basil’s Cathedral) appears in the background on the right.
Description
This colored print depicts a battlefield covered with dead and dying people. A burnt log cabin stands on the left and a Russian Orthodox church with onion domes (likely St. Basil’s Cathedral) appears in the background on the right. The drama Michael Strogoff was based on a novel by Jules Verne about a courier for the Russian Tsar Alexander II. It follows his daring adventures through Siberia, which was under invasion by the Tartars, as he tries to stop the rebellion.
The Kiralfy Brothers, Imre (ca 1845-1919) and Bolossy (ca 1848 -1932), were dancers, directors, and producers of burlesque and variety shows. The Kiralfys were born in Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and began dancing onstage as children. Although their family name was Konigsbaum, they performed as the Kiralfy brothers to conceal their father's involvement in revolutionary politics. They studied dance at the Opera Ballet in Paris and toured with shows in Europe before making their American debut in George L. Fox's production of Hiccory Diccory Dock in 1869. Inspired by the lavish spectacles they'd seen in Paris, they also began producing shows, which were famous for their large casts, extravagant sets, and bold special effects. A production called The Deluge featured an actual rainfall on stage, while Around the World in Eighty Days included a live elephant and a helium balloon operated by wires. They were also among the early showmen to use electric lighting for their acts, and their 1883 show Excelsior was staged under the direction of Thomas Edison. Their works often featured stories and settings from around the world. The Kiralfys dissolved their partnership in 1887 but continued to stage large scale shows on their own. Imre Kirafly moved to England where he created replicas of historic events like Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition. Bolossy’s shows included Carnival in Venice, a Portland, Oregon production which featured a lake connected to a canal.
This chromolithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas and C. Kendrick. Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904) was an artist, portrait painter, and lithographer especially well known for his theatrical portraits. His New York firm was called H. A. Thomas Lith. Studio until 1887, when it became H. A. Thomas & Wylie Lithographic (sometimes cited as Lithography or Lithographing) Company. No information available about C. Kendrick other than he appears to have partnered with Thomas on numerous print projects in 1878 and 1879.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
date made
1878-1879
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
Kendrick
ID Number
DL.60.3034
catalog number
60.3034
accession number
228146

Arms of the United States of America by Joseph Edward Baker and John Henry Bufford

In 1864, Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant to lead all Union armies, and reinvigorated under the General’s leadership and policy of total war, the Union armies launched numerous offensives against the Confederate armies in all of the war’s theaters.
Description
In 1864, Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant to lead all Union armies, and reinvigorated under the General’s leadership and policy of total war, the Union armies launched numerous offensives against the Confederate armies in all of the war’s theaters. This print published that same year by J.H. Bufford provides a detailed allegory of the United States at war. The female personification of Liberty sits on a throne of clouds below the words “E Pluribus Unum” and an arc of 13 stars. She wears a Phrygian cap, and wields a sword, shield, and American flag. Below her, an eagle perches atop a shield decorated with stars and stripes, grasping arrows and an olive branch in its talons. To the left, a Native American warrior stands armed with a bow and tomahawk, extending his right hand. On the right, a sailor gripping an anchor gazes up at the figure of Liberty. At their feet lie cannons, rifles, swords, and other instruments of war. Below this symbolic arrangement, one can make out the U.S. Capitol, the Potomac River, and a camp of Union soldiers through the clouds.
This print was published by the lithographer John H. Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he developed a reputation for printing and publishing popular prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
The artist of this work, Joseph E. Baker (1837-1914), began as an apprentice at J. H. Bufford & Co. in 1857. He eventually became James Bufford’s principal draftsman and illustrator of sheet music. He worked in NYC in 1860-1867 and specialized in portrait prints. During the Civil War he produced political cartoons and lithographs for Bufford. He later worked for Armstrong & Company, remaining active until 1888.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1864
lithographer
Bufford, John Henry
graphic artist
Baker, Joseph E.
ID Number
DL.60.2560
catalog number
60.2560
accession number
228146

Jas. H. Wallick and His Famous Acting Horses Roan Charger and Bay Raider in the New Bandit King by Great Western Printing Company

This colored print is a full-length portrait of a man in riding attire standing in the woods with two horses. His name, “Jas. H.
Description
This colored print is a full-length portrait of a man in riding attire standing in the woods with two horses. His name, “Jas. H. Wallick,” appears at the top of the print and at the bottom are the words, “And His Famous Acting Horses / Road Charger and Bay Raider / in The New Bandit King.”
James H. Wallick (ca 1839-1908) was born in Hurley, New York. Sources have suggested varying possibilities for his birth name, including Patrick J. Fubbins, James Henry Wheeler, or James H. Fubbins Wallick. There has also been speculation that he took the last name Wallick to link himself to the actor James William Wallack, Sr. James Wallick appeared in melodramas and circuses before achieving his best-known success in The Bandit King, a touring Wild West show loosely based on the life of outlaw Jesse James, recast as an anti- hero named Joe Howard. After the death of James in 1882, Wallick created, produced, and starred in the drama, originally titled Jesse James, The Bandit King,. The production featured the typical Wild West genre like horses, buffalo, trick riding and an impressive sharpshooting demonstration. The show was comprised of 6 acts and 8 tableaux and sometimes featured Robert J. Ford, James's real-life killer. The Bandit King made several tours across the country from 1882 to about 1902. Wallick’s other productions included The Cattle King and The Mountain King. He made and lost several fortunes over the course of his career and suffered from heavy debt. He committed suicide in 1908.
This chromolithograph was produced by the Great Western Printing Company, which was possibly based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Wallick, James H.
maker
Great Western Printing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3055
catalog number
60.3055
accession number
228146

Maggie Mitchell

This colored print is an oval bust portrait of actress Maggie Mitchell on a banner. She is wearing a white hat and white dress.
Description
This colored print is an oval bust portrait of actress Maggie Mitchell on a banner. She is wearing a white hat and white dress. The caption stamped at the top of the poster announces the location and date of the performance as “Park Theatre, Tuesday, March 14.”
The Park Theater was built in 1798 on Park Row in Manhattan and was New York City’s premiere performance space in the early 19th Century. It attracted a diverse audience with each class sitting in its preferred section. Working class men sat in the pit; members of the upper class and women in the boxes; the least affluent sat or stood in the balcony. These included immigrants, people of color, and prostitutes.
Maggie Mitchell (1832-1918) has been described as a pioneering example of "the personality actress," a performer whose onstage persona was almost indistinguishable from her image offstage. ( The History of North American Theater). She was born Margaret Julia Mitchell in New York City. As a young girl, she performed in silent roles before making her speaking debut as Julia in The Soldier's Daughter in 1851. Petite and curly haired, with a childlike energy, she was often cast in sentimental comedies and in male or “tomboy” roles, including the title role in a stage adaptation of Oliver Twist. Mitchell's sprightly charm sparked what would later be called a "Maggie Mitchell craze" in Cleveland, Ohio, and she eventually became one of the most celebrated actresses of her era. She appeared in Jane Eyre, Little Barefoot, The Pearl of Savoy, and other dramas, but her best-known role was as a simple country girl in a comedy called Fanchon, the Cricket, adapted from George Sand's story "La Petite Fadette." She made her debut as Fanchon in the early 1860s and continued to perform the part, along with her trademark “shadow dance,” until she was in her fifties. Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were said to be among her admirers. Maggie Mitchell retired from the theater in 1892.
This chromolithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas. Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904) was an artist, portrait painter, and lithographer especially well known for his theatrical portraits. His New York firm was called H. A. Thomas Lith. Studio until 1887, when it became H. A. Thomas & Wylie Lithographic (sometimes cited as Lithography or Lithographing) Company.
The collection contains a duplicate of this same print (DL.60.3049)
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Mitchell, Margaret Julia
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3030
catalog number
60.3030
accession number
228146

A Merry Christmas/A Happy New-Year

Colored print of a two-horse sleigh dashing along a snowy road. One of the two occupants is paying a toll taker as they pass a little clapboard toll house. Another sleigh approaches in the background.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a two-horse sleigh dashing along a snowy road. One of the two occupants is paying a toll taker as they pass a little clapboard toll house. Another sleigh approaches in the background. Distributed as a seasonal promotional by Putnum's(?) Clothing House, Chicago.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
n.d.
maker
Hughes and Johnson
ID Number
DL.60.2646
catalog number
60.2646
accession number
228146

James H. Wallick's Bandit King Co.

This colored print is a stereotypical depiction of composer and lyricist Fred Lyons as "Old Bob," seated in a bar and playing a banjo with a donkey named "Calamity Jane" braying at his side.
Description
This colored print is a stereotypical depiction of composer and lyricist Fred Lyons as "Old Bob," seated in a bar and playing a banjo with a donkey named "Calamity Jane" braying at his side. Fred Lyons was a popular 19th Century African American minstrel entertainer who composed many songs including "Paint All De Little Black Sinners White" and “Dem Chickens Roost too High,” published in 1887.
James H. Wallick (ca 1839-1908) was born in Hurley, New York. Sources have suggested varying possibilities for his birth name, including Patrick J. Fubbins, James Henry Wheeler, or James H. Fubbins Wallick. There has also been speculation that he took the last name Wallick to link himself to the actor James William Wallack, Sr. James Wallick appeared in melodramas and circuses before achieving his best-known success in The Bandit King, a touring Wild West show based on the life of outlaw Jesse James, recast as a hero named Joe Howard. Wallick created, produced, and starred in the drama, which offered stock features of the genre like horses, buffalo, and riding and sharpshooting tricks. In addition, the shows sometimes featured Robert J. Ford, James's real-life killer. Wallick’s other productions included The Cattle King and The Mountain King. He made and lost several fortunes over the course of his career and suffered from heavy debt. He committed suicide in 1908.
This chromolithograph was published by the Great Western Printing Company, which was probably based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Lyons, Fred
Wallick, James H.
maker
Great Western Printing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3035
catalog number
60.3035
accession number
228146

Battle of Bunker Hill commemorative print

Chromolithographic colored print dramatically depicting the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775. Scene shows British and American forces engaged in combat on a hill. British ships at sea in background.
Description
Chromolithographic colored print dramatically depicting the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775. Scene shows British and American forces engaged in combat on a hill. British ships at sea in background. Note the posed wounded and dying soldiers, including that of Doctor Joseph Warren, who was mortally wounded and is being assisted by Colonel John Chester of Connecticut. Prince Estabrook, an African American slave who volunteered to fight with the Lexington Massachusetts Militia is also present on the field of battle. The image is after a painting by John Trumbull depicting the Death of General Warren. The text below the image indicates the losses: June 17th, 1775. - Howe, Com. British, Loss: 1054. (Maj. Pitcain Kd.) Prescott, Com. Americans, Loss: 450 (Gen. Warren Kd.)
The depiction supports the story that General Warren was shot in the face while rallying the troops against the oncoming British. He was buried on the field of battle on Breeds Hill and supposedly his body was later identified by Paul Revere, who as well as being a silversmith was also a dentist, and was able to identify his body by recognizing his dental work.
Louis Kurz was a mural and scene painter before the Civil War, explaining the mural-like format of the images. His illustrations also appear to have been inspired by cycloramas, which were popular at the time, such as Paul Philippoteaux’s Gettysburg Cyclorama. Kurz was an Austrian immigrant who settled in Chicago during the 1850s, where he formed a partnership with Henry Seifert of Milwaukee. He later fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the conflict, he co-founded the Chicago Lithographic Company. When the company’s assets were destroyed during the Chicago Fire of 1871, Kurz started a new business with his partner, financial backer, and business manager, Alexander Allison.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1890
date made
1885-1896
maker
Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
ID Number
DL.60.2631
catalog number
60.2631
accession number
228146

Haverly's European Mastodon Minstrels

Colored print of a large band performing on the steps of the Capitol (south wing), during the inauguration of the president. A row of Honor Guards stands at attention on the steps, to either side of the band. A large crowd looks on.
Description
Colored print of a large band performing on the steps of the Capitol (south wing), during the inauguration of the president. A row of Honor Guards stands at attention on the steps, to either side of the band. A large crowd looks on. Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels was a blackface performers created in 1877, when J. H. Haverly merged four of his companies. The group included a brass band and a drum corp. The shows included lavish scenery and often a circus act.
Entertainment entrepreneur J. H. (Jack) Haverly (1837-1901) was born Christopher Haverly near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He launched his show business career in 1864 in Toledo, Ohio, where he purchased a variety theater. Inspired by entrepreneurs like P. T. Barnum, Haverly went on to manage other theaters, and he created minstrel and comic performance groups on the East Coast and in the Middle West. In the late 1870s he consolidated his troupes into a single company called the United Mastodon Minstrels which included forty performers, along with a brass band and drum corps. The group continued to grow and at one point had more than a hundred members. Around the same time, Haverly took control of a black performing group called Charles Callender's Original Georgia Minstrels, which he renamed Haverly’s Colored Minstrels. He promoted their performances as authentic depictions of black life, even creating a mock plantation with costumed actors portraying slaves and overseers. Haverly’s troupes toured the United States, usually appearing at his own theaters in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco. They also traveled to England and Scotland. Featuring lavish stage sets, extravagant special effects, and performers in blackface makeup and exotic costumes, his innovations inspired the creation of smaller minstrel shows during the late nineteenth century.
This chromolithograph was produced by the Strobridge Lithographing Company. The Strobridge firm was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio ca 1847 by lithographer Elijah J. Middleton (cited in some sources as Elijah C. Middleton). Middleton was known as one of the pioneers of chromolithography in the United States. By 1854 another lithographer, W. R. Wallace, along with the bookseller Hines Strobridge (1823-1909) had joined the firm as partners. After the Civil War, Strobridge acquired sole ownership of the company and renamed it after himself. Strobridge and Company became especially well known for circus, theater, and movie posters. After leaving the company, Elijah Middleton established a reputation as a portrait publisher, producing prints of George and Martha Washington, Daniel Webster, and other American historical figures.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Strobridge Lithographing Company
ID Number
DL.60.2482
catalog number
60.2482
accession number
228146

Hunting the Deer

This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 11. Hunting the [Virginia] Deer. A.B. Frost. It depicts a hunter crouched behind a log, aiming a rifle at a stag.
The artist was Arthur Burdette Frost (1851-1928), known for his wildlife and sporting scenes even though he had an aversion to deer hunting. Frost was a noted illustrator (Uncle Remus), even though he was color blind.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Frost, Arthur Burdette
ID Number
DL.60.2720
catalog number
60.2720
accession number
228146

The Retreat

This print by John Henry Bufford shows the Army of the Potomac at the conclusion of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. General McClellan had intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862, but after a series of engagements with Robert E.
Description
This print by John Henry Bufford shows the Army of the Potomac at the conclusion of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. General McClellan had intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862, but after a series of engagements with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Seven Days Battle, he withdrew to the James River, 20 miles from Richmond. Lincoln then called for the Army of the Potomac to return to Washington, D.C. The failure of the Peninsula Campaign crushed the morale of Union forces, who believed the capture of the Confederate capital would bring about an end to the fighting.
In the background of this print, long trains of covered wagons and troops of the Army of the Potomac retreat from Chickahominy to the James River. In the foreground, some soldiers cross Bear Creek while others rest on its banks. General George McClellan is visible at the bottom of the print on a white horse, looking out upon the withdrawal of his forces. This print is identical to another by Bufford, which has the less cynical title – “The Army of the Potomac.”
This print was published by the lithographer John Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894) was born in New Hampshire and began his career as a portrait and landscape painter. During the Civil War, he accompanied the Union Army and made sketches from 1861 to 1863, and worked as a print publisher in Boston from 1863 to 1865. Union officers often commented on the accuracy of his artwork. He documented scenes of the War, particularly at Gettysburg and created a guidebook to the battle in 1873. From 1883 to 1887 he served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, during which time he wrote a detailed history of Gettysburg from the Union perspective.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
maker
Bachelder, John Badger
lithographer
Bufford, John Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2605
catalog number
60.2605
accession number
228146

Charles Sumner

On May 22, 1856, during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, Massachusetts Republican Senator, Charles Sumner, delivered a speech to Congress in which he denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and demanded that Kansas be admitted to the Union as a free state.
Description
On May 22, 1856, during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, Massachusetts Republican Senator, Charles Sumner, delivered a speech to Congress in which he denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and demanded that Kansas be admitted to the Union as a free state. In his oration, he verbally attacked the pro-slavery South Carolina Senator, Andrew Butler. Two days later, Preston Brooks, a South Carolina Congressman and also Butler’s cousin, nearly beat Sumner to death on the Senate floor with a cane. Responses to the attack in the North and the South further polarized the people of the nation, leading it further down the path to war. Even before he had gained renown as the victim of “Bleeding Sumner,” the Senator had been a strong proponent of abolition and civil rights for African Americans. In 1848, the city of Boston denied Sarah Robert, a five-year-old black girl, enrollment at a white-only school. Sumner represented the Roberts in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, challenging the racial segregation of Boston schools in the state. Although the Court ruled in favor of Boston, deeming that racial segregation was not unconstitutional, Sumner’s argument was cited in Brown v. Board of Education, which prohibited segregated schools nationwide.
This print containing a three-quarter length portrait of the statesman celebrates one of his last efforts for racial equality. While Sumner tucks right hand tucked into his jacket, his left points down to a pile of papers exclaiming, “Equal Rights to All … Do Not Let the Civil Rights Bill Fail.” While the lithograph was produced to memorialize the Senator after his death in 1874, it also urged support for the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which Sumner drafted and proposed during the 41st Congress of the United States. The Act guaranteed African Americans equal access to public accommodations and transportation and was passed by Congress a year after Sumner’s death and signed into law by President Grant. The Act did indeed die, however, in 1883, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional during the Civil Rights Cases.
Henry Schile, the creator of this print, was probably a German immigrant, as many of his prints relate to the German immigrant population in New York. He founded the H. Schile and Company, producing very brightly colored chromolithography in the late 1860’s and 1870’s and much of his work is done on heavy black paper. He was married to Marguerite Schaeffer (1830-1895).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1874
depicted
Sumner, Charles
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2458
catalog number
60.2458
accession number
228146

Battle between the Monitor and Merrimac

Capitalizing on the success of Civil War-related artwork during the 1880s and 90s, the Chicago-based printmakers Louis Kurz and Alexander Allison published a series of 36 battle scenes commemorating famous engagements of the war.
Description
Capitalizing on the success of Civil War-related artwork during the 1880s and 90s, the Chicago-based printmakers Louis Kurz and Alexander Allison published a series of 36 battle scenes commemorating famous engagements of the war. All displayed idealized, panoramic representations of the battles with statistics of the killed and wounded below each image. Kurz and Allison did not consult photography or Civil War historians when designing their prints, instead relying on Kurz’s own first-hand experience as a soldier during the conflict. They included historical inaccuracies and eschewed aesthetic realism to remain true to earlier, pre-photographic lithographic traditions, which preferred bold graphics, black outlines, and figures performing grand, exaggerated gestures.
On March 8, 1862, the Confederate ironclad ship, the CSS Virginia, built from the hull of the USS Merrimac, sailed out of Norfolk to attack Union ships in an attempt to break the Federal blockade, which prevented Norfolk and Richmond from engaging in international trade. It succeeded in destroying two ships, the USS Cumberland and USS Congress. As it approached the USS Minnesota on the morning, the Virginia was engaged by the Union’s own ironclad vessel, the USS Monitor. After exchanging fire for several hours, the retreated to Norfolk, leaving the first battle between ironclad ships a draw.
This 1889 chromolithograph depicts the two ironclads and other traditional wooden warships exchanging fire in Hampton Roads harbor. Union artillery batteries provide supporting fire from the shore. Men abandon the burning USS Congress, which had been destroyed by the Merrimac. Those sailors who have reached the shore are carried away on stretchers. A group of mounted officers in the lower left corner look out upon the battle.
Louis Kurz was a mural and scene painter before the Civil War, explaining the mural-like format of the images. His illustrations also appear to have been inspired by cycloramas, which were popular at the time, such as Paul Philippoteaux’s Gettysburg Cyclorama. Kurz was an Austrian immigrant who settled in Chicago during the 1850s, where he formed a partnership with Henry Seifert of Milwaukee. He later fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the conflict, he co-founded the Chicago Lithographic Company. When the company’s assets were destroyed during the Chicago Fire of 1871, Kurz started a new business with his partner, financial backer, and business manager, Alexander Allison.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1889
maker
Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
ID Number
DL.60.2633
catalog number
60.2633
accession number
228146

Deacon Crankett

This colored print depicts a table with the words "Things that the Deacon swears by" printed on the side of a red tablecloth. The objects on the table include a Bible, a pitcher labeled "Cold Water," and a straw hat. A chair is drawn up to the table.
Description
This colored print depicts a table with the words "Things that the Deacon swears by" printed on the side of a red tablecloth. The objects on the table include a Bible, a pitcher labeled "Cold Water," and a straw hat. A chair is drawn up to the table. In addition to the title “Deacon Crankett by John Habberton,” the poster contains the additional words “Author of Helen’s Babies” at the top. Across the bottom is a daybill or label containing the date and location of the performance. This one proclaims “Park Theatre / Two Nights Only / Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1 & 2.”
The Park Theater was built in 1798 on Park Row in Manhattan and was New York City’s premiere performance space in the early 19th Century. It attracted a diverse audience with various groups of people sitting in distinct sections of the theater. Working class men sat in the pit; members of the upper class and women in the boxes; and the least affluent sat or stood in the balcony. This included immigrants, people of color, and prostitutes.
Deacon Crankett was a successful play described as both a “domestic drama” and “comic amusement.” The reviews in the New York Times mentioned it was a simplistic presentation “of weak morality and absurd situations.” The original name of the play was Joe Thatcher’s Revenge and Joe, the main character was first played at Haverly’s Fourteenth Steet Theater in the fall of 1880 by James O’Neill with Harry Lee as the understudy. It supposedly was performed over 500 times between 1880-1892.
The play was the creation of by American dramatist, novelist, and literary critic John Habberton (1842-1921). Habberton was born in New York and grew up in Illinois. After serving in the Civil War, he worked for the publisher Harper & Brothers. He later became the literary editor of the Christian Union and then a literary critic for the New York Herald. He was best known for his 1876 novel Helen's Babies, which was part of the Ruby Books series for boys and girls. The book's comic account of a bachelor salesman babysitting two small children was popular with readers of all ages, including Rudyard Kipling. A silent film version of Helen's Babies was released in 1924. John Habberton also wrote a series of stories about early California life, many of which were collected in his 1880 book, Romance of California Life: Illustrated by Pacific Slope Stories, Thrilling, Pathetic and Humorous.
There is no information available about the producer of this lithograph.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.3026
catalog number
60.3026
accession number
228146

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