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: Lithographs

Reverie

Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This three-quarter length colored portrait print is of a young woman standing at a railing. The girl is looking back over her right shoulder. She is wearing a large hat with feathers and dress with large billowing sleeves. To her left there is heavy drapery with a tassel.
This lithograph was done by Anthony Imbert, a lithographer and marine painter based in New York. He was active as an artist from 1825 until his death in around 1838. He was born in France and became a French naval officer. He learned to paint after he was imprisoned by the British. When he was released, he came to the United States and developed a career as a lithographer and marine painter. He pioneered many new forms of lithography including a folding lithograph by joining two stories to create a larger print. The artist Dominico Canova was born in Milan, Italy. He immigrated to New York City in 1825, where he began his work as a lithographer under Anthony Imbert. He was primarily known in Louisiana as a teacher of painting and drawing, a muralist and painter. After a few years working under Anthony Imbert he accepted a teaching position in Convent Louisiana, at the College of Jefferson. Throughout the rest of his career, he held various teaching positions at different colleges and schools throughout Louisiana. He died in New Orleans in 1868.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1830
maker
Imbert, Anthony
artist
Canova, Dominico
Roberts, J. M.
ID Number
DL.60.2491
catalog number
60.2491
accession number
228146

Slavery as it Exists in America./ Slavery as it Exists in England.

This 1850 print offers a defense of slavery in America by satirically comparing it with a perceived system of “wage slavery” in England.
Description
This 1850 print offers a defense of slavery in America by satirically comparing it with a perceived system of “wage slavery” in England. In the top panel, two Northern men and two Southern men look upon a group of seemingly content slaves who are shown dancing, playing music, and smiling. The Northerners are surprised at this scene, amazed to find that popular assumptions at home about slavery were unfounded. The Southerners hope that the Northerners will return home with a new perspective on slavery, but demonstrate their readiness to fight for their rights if necessary. The lower panel shows a gathering of people outside of a cloth factory in England. On the side of the factory, a sign reads, “Sale / A Wife to be Sold.” On the left, a young farmer talks to his childhood friend, who appears as an old man. The older figure explains that life in a British factory producing cloth ages one more quickly, and that the workers die of old age at 40. To their right, a mother looks down upon her three children, lamenting “What wretched slaves, this factory life makes me & my children. Continuing right, two factory workers contemplate running away to the coal mines, where they would only work for 14 hours instead of their current 17. On the far right, two rotund men, a priest and a tax collector, approach the workers with books labeled “Tythes” and “Taxes.” In the right corner, a man thanks God that he will soon die and be free of his “factory slavery.” Below the panels is included a portrait of the bust of George Thompson, a Scottish abolitionist. An accompanying quote from Thompson reads, “I am proud to boast that Slavery does not breathe in England,” although the creators of this print would argue otherwise. It was printed by British born John Haven ( born ca 1817), who was active in New York City at 3 Broad Street 1846-1848. He then moved to 86 State Street, Boston where he was active 1848-1850. He is known for designing maps as well as for prints on Manifest Destiny and prints with political commentary.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850
depicted
Thompson, George
maker
Haven, Joshua P.
ID Number
DL.60.3490
catalog number
60.3490

S.T. Suit's Pure Kentucky Bourbon

Black & white advertising print for bourbon depicting the United States Capitol Building. Eight small circles around the engraved border names specific bourbons and ryes produced by the company.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black & white advertising print for bourbon depicting the United States Capitol Building. Eight small circles around the engraved border names specific bourbons and ryes produced by the company.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1872
maker
New York Printing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3077
catalog number
60.3077
accession number
228146

The Life & Age of Man by James Baille

This colored print depicts a male from infancy to old age in decade-long spans. This was a popular and recurring theme of genteel society during the 19th Century.
Description
This colored print depicts a male from infancy to old age in decade-long spans. This was a popular and recurring theme of genteel society during the 19th Century. The figures are shown on ascending steps up to age 50 and then descending, with age 100 being the lowest to the right. Each image portrays a well-dressed youth or man in appropriate attire for his position in society (i.e., gentleman, soldier, elder). Verses beneath each figure associate a depicted animal with that stage of life. A small vignette of two people standing near a monument in a cemetery is in the center foreground.
This print was produced by James S. Baillie, who was active in New York from 1838 to 1855. James Baillie started as a framer in 1838, and then became an artist and lithographer in 1843 or 1844. He discovered how to color lithographs while working as an independent contractor for Currier & Ives in the mid 1840s. He was a prolific lithographer and colorist for Currier & Ives, and his prints were extremely popular with a wide distribution. James Baillie spent his later years concentrating on painting instead of lithography.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1847
distributors
Sowle & Shaw
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2935
catalog number
60.2935
accession number
228146

The Mining Business in Four Pictures

Black and white print depicting four views of life in the California mining business: "Going into it" shows two miners with prospecting gear; "Making Something" shows them discovering gold in a pan; "Making Nothing" depicts them beside a large empty hole; "Going out of it" depict
Description (Brief)
Black and white print depicting four views of life in the California mining business: "Going into it" shows two miners with prospecting gear; "Making Something" shows them discovering gold in a pan; "Making Nothing" depicts them beside a large empty hole; "Going out of it" depicts them walking toward town.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Britton & Rey
ID Number
DL.60.3878
catalog number
60.3878

The Farmers Pet

Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This hand colored print is a half-length portrait of a girl, circa 1840s, holding in her arms a fat golden brown hen sporting a red comb. The graphic artist and publisher are unknown.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
n.d.
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.2264
catalog number
60.2264
accession number
228146

The Black Valley Railroad by artist Emile Ackerman and lithographed by J. Mayer and Company

This black and white allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking. A train with its engine labeled "Distillery" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station".
Description
This black and white allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking. A train with its engine labeled "Distillery" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station". The train is leaving a tranquil valley and heading toward doom with skeletons and snakes in the background. The print has a considerable amount of descriptive and interpretive text.
This print was created by the artist Emil F. Ackermann, who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1840 and came to the United States in 1848. Ackermann eventually went to work for the lithography firm of J.H. Bufford and Sons, which produced the lithograph in the 1860s.
It was issued by the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance and published by Reverend Steadman Wright Hanks in his book The Crystal River Turned Upon the Black Valley Railroad and Black Valley Country -- A Temperance Allegory (also known as The Black Valley: The Railroad and the Country). Hanks called the print "probably the most successful temperance lecture in the country." Stedman Wright Hanks (1811-1889) was a Congregational minister in Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as an author, artist, and fervent supporter of both the temperance and anti-slavery movements. Hanks spoke to audiences around the United States about the evils of overindulging in alcohol. In addition to his book about the Black Valley Railroad, his published works included Sailor Boys, or, Light on the Seaand Mutineers of the "Bounty and compiled a temperance song book and served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court. He is also noted for performing the sermon commemorating John Quincy Adams death at the St. John Street Congregational Church.
This print was produced by J. Mayer and Company. Julius Mayer was a lithographer in Boston from 1857-1872. He was associated with Prang & Mayer (1857-1860), Mayer & Stetfield (1861-1862), and J. Mayer & Co. (1863-1872). His prints included scenes of Boston and Portland, Maine.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
copyright holder
Hanks, S. W.
artist; engraver
Ackermann, Emil
lithographer
J. Mayer and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2890
catalog number
60.2890
accession number
228146

Panorama of Washington

This 1860 colored lithograph celebrates George Washington and many important buildings from around the capital. At the top of the work, a portrait of Washington is flanked by images of Mount Vernon and his tomb.
Description
This 1860 colored lithograph celebrates George Washington and many important buildings from around the capital. At the top of the work, a portrait of Washington is flanked by images of Mount Vernon and his tomb. His image is encircled by the words, “First in War / First in Peace / and first in the hearts of his Countrymen.” Below Washington’s portrait is a colored illustration of the Statue of Freedom, the bronze statue commissioned to adorn the dome of the Capitol Building. Scenes of the Senate and the House of Representatives are included on either side of Freedom. Below the statue are arrayed 23 illustrations of famous D.C. landmarks, including the United States General Post Office, the United States Treasury, the Willard Hotel, the United States Navy Yard, the United States Arsenal, Georgetown College, the United States Patent Office, and the “Smithsonian Institute” [sic]. Below these, a bird’s eye view of Washington, D.C. contains a rendering of the completed Capitol Building. At the time of the print’s publication, the building’s dome was still under construction. At the bottom of the print, an illustration of the Washington Monument is situated between an image of Washington during the Revolution and an allegory of Columbia with two cherubs. In 1860, the Washington Monument remained unfinished and this illustration of the monument features its original design: an obelisk surrounded by a circular colonnade, which would be topped by a statue of Washington driving a chariot.
Charles Magnus (1826-1900) was born Julian Carl Magnus in Germany and immigrated with his family to New York City sometime between 1848 and 1850. During the 1850s, he learned the printing business while working with his brother on a German language weekly newspaper, the Deutsche Schnellpost. He later began his own lithographer firm, producing city views and commercial letterhead designs. During the Civil War, he designed pro-Union envelopes and illustrated song sheets. The firm’s Washington, D.C. branch also produced small, hand-colored scenes of Union camps and hospitals. Soldiers purchased these picturesque scenes of camp life to send home to calm the worries of anxious family members.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
depicted
Washington, George
maker
Magnus, Charles
ID Number
DL.60.3781
catalog number
60.3781

Lucy

Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This full length colored portrait is of a young woman standing by a window. Behind the woman is a table with a vase of flowers framed by floral drapery and on a patterned carpet. The woman is wearing a pink and white dress with flowing sleeves, a bracelet on both arms and a necklace. The scene through the window depicts a fenced in house and a sailboat on a river.
This print was produced by James S Baillie, who was active in New York from 1838 to 1855. James Baillie started as a framer in 1838, and then became an artist and lithographer in 1843 or 1844. He discovered how to color lithographs while working as an independent contractor for Currier & Ives in the mid 1840’s. A prolific lithographer and colorist for Currier & Ives; his prints were extremely popular with a wide distribution. J. Baillie spent his later years concentrating on painting instead of lithography.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2493
catalog number
60.2493
accession number
228146

Ben Morrill

Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver. White picket fence in background.A color print of a dark brown stallion pulling a sulky and driver on a race track. The equipment is streamlined and colorful.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver. White picket fence in background.
Description
A color print of a dark brown stallion pulling a sulky and driver on a race track. The equipment is streamlined and colorful. The driver wears a maroon jacket, white shirt, purple pants, a blue cap and yellow gloves. The track is enclosed by a white picket fence.
Ben Morrill was foaled in 1868 from Winthrop Morrill and the Harrison Ames Mare in Winthrop, Maine. He was owned by T.B. Williams. His career ran from 1872-79. Ben Morrill never reached the level of the Grand Circuit horses, but he was well loved throughout New England and Canada and a particular favorite in Boston. On October 29, 1874 Ben Morrill, driven by J.J. Bowen, won two out of nine heats at Prospect Park Fairgrounds in a race for trotters that had never raced under 2:30. Ben Morrill sired seven trotters that reached the under 2:30 achievement.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based publisher of lithographs, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they prospered for a few years. They went bankrupt in 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1875
maker
Haskell & Allen
artist
Howe, E.R.
original artist
Leighton, Scott
ID Number
DL.60.3538
catalog number
60.3538

Winter in the Country.-the Farmers Home

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca. 1860
maker
Hart, Charles
publisher
Charles Brothers
ID Number
DL.60.2638
catalog number
60.2638
accession number
228146

The Fox Fanciers

Colored print of a fox confronted by three small dogs (terriers).Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a fox confronted by three small dogs (terriers).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1868
maker
Hart, Charles
publisher
Kelly, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.2800
catalog number
60.2800
accession number
228146

Res. of John Agnew, Propr. Pittsburg Glassworks, Baldwin Tp., Allegheny Co. Pa.

Black and white print of a two-story house sit off from the street by an iron fence.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a two-story house sit off from the street by an iron fence. There is a fountain in the large front yard, a pump in a lattice enclosure on the side of the house, and a structure (the glassworks?) with a large chimney belching smoke in the backyard.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
Associated Name
Agnew, John
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.3711
catalog number
60.3711

Taylor's Victories on the Rio Grande

Black and white print; series of vingettes; at center is a small portrait of Zachary Taylor on horseback. This is surrounded by four small battle scenes: Bombardment of Matamoras, Battle of Alto Alto, Capture of Gen. Vega, and Charge of Capt. May. Iconography includes a U.S.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; series of vingettes; at center is a small portrait of Zachary Taylor on horseback. This is surrounded by four small battle scenes: Bombardment of Matamoras, Battle of Alto Alto, Capture of Gen. Vega, and Charge of Capt. May. Iconography includes a U.S. shield and an eagle.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
depicted
Taylor, Zachary
maker
Sarony & Major
ID Number
DL.60.2552
catalog number
60.2552
accession number
228146

Lord Byron

Black & white print; half length portrait of a man (Lord Byron) seated, with his chin on his hand and his elbow resting on manuscripts.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black & white print; half length portrait of a man (Lord Byron) seated, with his chin on his hand and his elbow resting on manuscripts.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1830
depicted
Byron, George Gordon
maker
Pendleton's Lithography
artist
Peale, Rembrandt
ID Number
DL.60.3157
catalog number
60.3157
accession number
228146

Ben Ali

A black and white print of a walking race horse with a jockey.Ben Ali was bred in Kentucky in 1883 by Daniel Swigert from Virgil and Ulrica, making him a descendant of Lexington.
Description
A black and white print of a walking race horse with a jockey.
Ben Ali was bred in Kentucky in 1883 by Daniel Swigert from Virgil and Ulrica, making him a descendant of Lexington. He was named after his owner James Ben Ali Haggin, who profited from the Gold Rush of 1849, and he was trained by Jim Murphy. Ben Ali won the 1886 Kentucky Derby, and his total career winnings amounted to $25,090. The Derby was the center of a major bookmaking controversy that year, as bookmakers were barred from accepting large dollar bets. When Haggin could not place a bet on his stallion, he vowed to stop racing his barn at the Derby. As a result, the quality of the field was greatly reduced because of the spread of Haggin’s boycott movement and Churchill Downs eventually faced bankruptcy. Ben Ali died in 1903 at the Rancho del Paso Stud Farm in California.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.3624
catalog number
60.3624

Black Valley Railroad by J. H. Bufford and Sons

This hand-colored allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking in a series of symbols.
Description
This hand-colored allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking in a series of symbols. A train labeled "Alcohol" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station." It has left a tranquil valley and is heading toward doom in a land of evil serpents (as in Eden), skeletons, a vampire bat, and what appears to be a dangerous route to destruction, with fictional station names like "Horrorland," "Maniacville", "Prisonton" and “Woeland." The train runs on grain alcohol with the piston working in a decanter. Numerous travelers who can no longer pay the fare are lying abandoned, sick or passed out along the side of the tracks, while others appear to be looking for ways to escape. Station names bear a cautionary tale of scriptural citations along the left and right borders and below the image is a considerable amount of interpretive text.
This print was created by the artist Emil F. Ackermann, who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1840 and came to the United States in 1848. Ackermann eventually went to work for the lithography firm of J.H. Bufford and Sons, which produced the lithograph in the 1860s. It was issued by the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance and published by S.W. Hanks in his book The Crystal River Turned Upon the Black Valley Railroad and Black Valley Country -- A Temperance Allegory (also known as The Black Valley: The Railroad and the Country). Hanks called the print "probably the most successful temperance lecture in the country." Stedman Wright Hanks (1811-1889) was a Congregational minister in Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as an author, artist, and fervent supporter of both the temperance and anti-slavery movements. Hanks spoke to audiences around the United States about the evils of overindulging in alcohol. In addition to his book about the Black Valley Railroad, his published works included Sailor Boys, or, Light on the Sea and Mutineers of the "Bounty and compiled a temperance song book and served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court. He is also noted for performing the sermon commemorating John Quincy Adams deathat the St. John Street Congregational Church.
John H. Bufford (1810-1870) started his career in 1835 in New York, working for George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier. In 1840 he moved back to Boston and started his own lithography company. His sons decided to follow their father into the lithography business, and in 1858 John Bufford Jr. (1841-1893) and Frank Gale Bufford (1837-1912) partnered with their father to form the J.H. Bufford & Sons lithography firm. After John H. Bufford's death in 1870 his two sons continued to operate the family firm and changed the name to Bufford Sons.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1863
date made
ca. 1863
copyright holder
Hanks, S. W.
maker
J. H. Bufford and Sons
ID Number
DL.60.2891
catalog number
60.2891
accession number
228146

Loco Foco Express

This 1838 print depicts New York Senator Silas Wright standing in the center holding in his right hand the tail of a donkey, and in his left, the tail of a horse. Mounted on the donkey is Democratic New York Senator, Churchill C.
Description (Brief)
This 1838 print depicts New York Senator Silas Wright standing in the center holding in his right hand the tail of a donkey, and in his left, the tail of a horse. Mounted on the donkey is Democratic New York Senator, Churchill C. Cambreleng, wearing a wide brimmed hat with a ribbon reading, “Loco Foco Victory,” heading towards Albany. Seated on the horse, is New York City Comptroller (at the time of this print), William L. Marcy in uniform, and also sporting a “Loco Foco Victory” ribbon on his hat, heading towards Washington. The Loco Foco faction of the Democratic Party was prominent in New York City politics, and desired an independent treasury and a break from monopolies. Both men on horseback are posed as if they are about to gallop away towards their respective destinations, but Wright is holding them back stating, “Stop my good fellows, you are going on a fool’s errand. You are counting your chickens before they have hatched!” Both men are expressing what they hope will happen with a Loco Foco victory, with hopes of being Collector (Marcy) and Governor of New York (Cambreleng), but Wright knows that a Loco Foco victory might not be a reality. Ultimately Wright was correct, and a large scale Loco Foco victory never happened. Their biggest success was in 1840 when President Martin Van Buren took their financial policies into consideration and passed the Independent Treasury Act that separated banking from the Federal government. Following 1840 though, the Loco Foco party was only relevant in New York City and had very limited power.
The artist of this print is Sheepshanks, who is most likely a pseudonym for the artist Edward Williams Clay (1799-1857). Clay was a caricaturist, engraver, lithographer, and etcher, as well as a portrait painter. Before his career as an artist, Clay was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, but quickly left to pursue art in New York City. After losing his eyesight he retired from art and held minor office in Delaware before his death in December of 1857.
The publisher of this print is Henry R. Robinson (1827-1877). Robinson worked in New York, and had a store to sell his prints. In 1842, he was arrested for selling obscene pictures and books leading to the September 28, 1842 court case, People vs H. R. Robinson found in the District Attorney Indictment Papers, Municipal Archives. He was politically affiliated with the anti-Jackson Whig party which was made obvious by the wig silhouette used in 1838 as an advertising logo for his shop.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1838
depicted
Marcy, William L.
depicted (probably)
Cambreleng, Churchill C.
depicted (possibly)
Wright, Silas
maker
Robinson, Henry R.
ID Number
DL.60.3347
catalog number
60.3347

Single

These happy family scenes were meant to contrast with the restless, discontented bachelor prints.
Description
These happy family scenes were meant to contrast with the restless, discontented bachelor prints. Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This hand colored print is of a young man lounging in an ornate chair with his feet elevated up on footstool in front of a fire place. He is wearing an embroidered fitted coat, ascot, plaid pants and is holding a cigar in his left hand, and a sheet of paper in his right. There is an ornate clock above the decorative coal burning fireplace, a tall bookcase just behind him and there is a stringed musical instrument (guitar?) hanging on the side of the bookshelf. There is fringed drapery just behind his chair, a table with a fringed table cloth, and a fringed rug on top of a patterned carpet. There is sporting equipment on the wall including a rifle, boxing gloves, fencing rapiers, powder horns, saddle bag, and a sword. Prints depicting a bachelor in his quarters and titled Single were common during this period and were often part of a series the included Married.
This print was produced by James S Baillie, was active in New York from 1838 to 1855. James Baillie started as a framer in 1838, and then became an artist and lithographer in 1843 or 1844. He discovered how to color lithographs while working as an independent contractor for Currier & Ives in the mid 1840’s. A prolific lithographer and colorist for Currier & Ives; his prints were extremely popular with a wide distribution. J. Baillie spent his later years concentrating on painting instead of lithography.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1848
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2271
catalog number
60.2271
accession number
228146

Swing-Time

Black and white comic print of two young lovers in a board and rope swing with devilish looks on their faces.This is one of over 100 in a series of comic parodies of popular songs.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white comic print of two young lovers in a board and rope swing with devilish looks on their faces.This is one of over 100 in a series of comic parodies of popular songs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
maker
Vance, Fred T.
Vance, Parsloe and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2842
catalog number
60.2842
accession number
228146

The Fishermans Daughter

Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This hand colored print is a full length portrait of a young woman leaning on an oar. She is wearing a blue sash with fringe, blue slippers, a chain and anchor around her waist, a net on her hair and an apron with a striped underskirt. In the background is the shoreline with a boat, trees and a house with gothic windows.
Kellogg & Bulkeley was the lithography firm formed from the partnership between Elijah Chapman Kellogg, Edmund Burke Kellogg and William Henry Bulkeley. The firm was formed in 1867, and shortly after both Elijah Chapman Kellogg and his brother Edmund Burke Chapman retired. After their retirement the only Kellogg remaining in the business was Edmund’s son Charles Kellogg. By1871 the partnership between the Kellogg family and Bulkeley had been reorganized as an incorporated stock company. The company came to an end when is merged with Case, Lockwood, & Brainard to become Connecticut Printers in 1947. Connecticut Printers remained open until 1990 when the Kellogg lithography firm finally ended after 160 years.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
maker
Kellogg & Bulkeley
ID Number
DL.60.2255
catalog number
60.2255
accession number
228146

War/Peace

This hand-colored lithographic print, circa 1864, employs an optical illusion of Jefferson Davis’ profile to create an anti-Confederacy cartoon. The “War” viewing of the print reveals “Jeff.
Description
This hand-colored lithographic print, circa 1864, employs an optical illusion of Jefferson Davis’ profile to create an anti-Confederacy cartoon. The “War” viewing of the print reveals “Jeff. Rampant” with verses underneath the Confederate president telling of his eagerness to fight “For glory and his vaunted right.” Four vignettes depicting scenes of battle surround these verses. When the image is turned upside down, however, Davis metamorphoses into a donkey – his cap and mustache becoming the animal’s bridled snout and ears. A set of now-upright verses, entitled “Peace,” jests that “Jeff. Subdued” has lost his courage after actually witnessing battle and he now “homeward travels like an ass.” The corner vignettes around these verses contain three scenes of farm life and one of a battered, mustached Confederate, presumably Davis, returning home on a donkey.
The design for this colored lithograph was based on a similar 1861 cartoon, “Jeff. Davis going to War / Jeff. Returning from War An [Ass],” copyrighted by E. Rogers and published by S.C. Upham of Philadelphia. During the War, Upham famously printed millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit Confederate currency, which, when taken into the South, further destabilized the already hyper-inflated Southern economy.
It was produced by the Hartford, Connecticut lithographic firm of E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. Edmund Burke Kellogg and Elijah Chapman Kellogg were younger brothers of the founder of the Kellogg lithography firm, Daniel Wright Kellogg. After Daniel Wright Kellogg moved west, his two brothers took over the family lithography firm in 1840 and changed the name to E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. They were responsible for the continued success of the family firm and involved in partnerships with Horace Thayer in 1845/1846, John Chenevard Comstock in 1848 and William Henry Bulkeley in 1867.
George Whiting, credited on this print as Witing, worked as the agent and distributor of the Kellogg brothers’ prints in New York from 1848 to 1860. In 1860, the Kelloggs closed their New York office and Whiting took over the firm, selling prints until his death two years later.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1864
cartooned
Davis, Jefferson
distributor
Witing, George
maker
E.B. and E.C. Kellogg
ID Number
DL.60.2282
catalog number
60.2282
accession number
228146

Mary

Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This full length hand colored portrait is of a young woman standing by a window wearing a bonnet and heavy shawl over a red dress. Behind her is blue drapery with fringe, and she stands on a patterned carpet. A sailboat and a windmill can be seen through the window.
This print was produced by James S Baillie, who was active in New York from 1838 to 1855. James Baillie started as a framer in 1838, and then became an artist and lithographer in 1843 or 1844. He discovered how to color lithographs while working as an independent contractor for Currier & Ives in the mid 1840’s. A prolific lithographer and colorist for Currier & Ives; his prints were extremely popular with a wide distribution. J. Baillie spent his later years concentrating on painting instead of lithography.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2495
catalog number
60.2495
accession number
228146

The Life & Age of Man by James S. Baillie

This hand colored print depicts a male from infancy to old age in decade-long spans. This was a popular and recurring theme of genteel society during the 19th Century.
Description
This hand colored print depicts a male from infancy to old age in decade-long spans. This was a popular and recurring theme of genteel society during the 19th Century. The figures are shown on ascending steps up to age 50 and then descending, with age 100 being the lowest to the right. Each image portrays a well-dressed youth or man in appropriate attire for his position in society (i.e., gentleman, soldier, elder). Verses beneath each figure associate a depicted animal with that stage of life. A small vignette of two people standing near a monument in a cemetery is in the center foreground. A flag waves at the top of the pyramid.
This print was produced by James S. Baillie, who was active in New York from 1838 to 1855. James Baillie started as a framer in 1838, and then became an artist and lithographer in 1843 or 1844. He discovered how to color lithographs while working as an independent contractor for Currier & Ives in the mid-1840s. He was a prolific lithographer and colorist for Currier & Ives, and his prints were extremely popular with a wide distribution. James Baillie spent his later years concentrating on painting instead of lithography.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1848
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2931
catalog number
60.2931
accession number
228146
maker number
131

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