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.

Topic: Peters Prints

Snipe Shooting

Colored print of two hunting dogs resting in foreground. A hunter stands behind them with his gun resting at his side. A second hunter with his dog are in the left background. Flat, marshy countryside with central grassy stretch bordered by woods.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of two hunting dogs resting in foreground. A hunter stands behind them with his gun resting at his side. A second hunter with his dog are in the left background. Flat, marshy countryside with central grassy stretch bordered by woods.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1857
artist
Marsden, Theodore
publisher
Goupil and Company
Knoedler, M.
lithographer
Eug. Ciceri & LaFosse
printer
Lemercier & Cie
ID Number
DL.60.2765
catalog number
60.2765
accession number
228146

The Romance

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1832
maker
Endicott & Swett
artist
Pages, A.
ID Number
DL.60.2527
catalog number
60.2527
accession number
228146

The Landing of Columbus

Colored print; depiction of Columbus landing on San Salvadore Island. He stands on the beach with a flag of Spain in one hand and a raised sword in the other. Beside him is a large crucifix set into the ground. He is surrounded by a group of kneeling and praying men.
Description (Brief)
Colored print; depiction of Columbus landing on San Salvadore Island. He stands on the beach with a flag of Spain in one hand and a raised sword in the other. Beside him is a large crucifix set into the ground. He is surrounded by a group of kneeling and praying men. Two sailing ships are in the right background and a group of Indians approaches in the left background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
depicted
Columbus, Christopher
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2545
catalog number
60.2545
accession number
228146

Return from the Hunt

Color print of two Indians in a canoe coming at a river bank. The canoe contains deer killed in the hunt. A woman and child greet the canoe while another woman, two children and a dog are in the background.
Description (Brief)
Color print of two Indians in a canoe coming at a river bank. The canoe contains deer killed in the hunt. A woman and child greet the canoe while another woman, two children and a dog are in the background. The setting is an Indian camp with many decorated tepeesk on a river bank.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1885
artist
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr
maker
Beckwith Henry W.
ID Number
DL.60.3503
catalog number
60.3503

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie

Color print of the Battle of Lake Erie, Sept 10th 1813, depicting a large row boat flying an American flag, contains eight sailors and a uniform officer standing and pointing to the right. American and British men of war fire on each other in the background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of the Battle of Lake Erie, Sept 10th 1813, depicting a large row boat flying an American flag, contains eight sailors and a uniform officer standing and pointing to the right. American and British men of war fire on each other in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
ID Number
DL.60.3286
catalog number
60.3286

Junggesellen - Leiden or Bachelor from Leiden

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 colored print depicts a man in tattered clothing and hat trying to thread a needle. He is seated in a cluttered, decrepit cottage with exposed ceiling beams. Next to him is a candlestick holder and lantern. There are jugs, baskets, pots, cups, fruit and shoes scattered around the room. The English traslation of the German title is the "Joys of Matrimony."
Johann Friederich Hesse was an artist, lithographer & printer active in Berlin 1838-1870. He produced popular prints of Martin Luther and genre drawings and worked with publisher W. Zawitz.
W. Zawitz was a publisher of books, lithographs, and maps in Germany ca 1840-1870.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
n.d.
ca 1840
printer
Hesse, Johann Friederich
publisher
Zawitz, W.
ID Number
DL.60.2296
catalog number
60.2296
accession number
228146

O! Could I Teach Yon Warbling Bird.

Black and white comic print of a thin man standing beside a fence and tree containing a bird. He plays a guitar and sings along with the bird. 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 a thin man standing beside a fence and tree containing a bird. He plays a guitar and sings along with the bird. 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.60.2841
catalog number
60.2841
accession number
228146

The Fox-Hunter

Colored print of a hunter on horseback with a crop in his raised hand. In the foreground a pack of hounds attack a fox. Two verses of a poem appear in the bottom margin on either side of the title.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a hunter on horseback with a crop in his raised hand. In the foreground a pack of hounds attack a fox. Two verses of a poem appear in the bottom margin on either side of the title.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1846
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.2670
catalog number
60.2670
accession number
228146

American Sporting Scene, Snipe Shooting

Colored print of two hunters and two dogs on the banks of a wooded stream. A hunter shoots at low flying birds (snipe) while one dog is retrieving a bird that he hit.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of two hunters and two dogs on the banks of a wooded stream. A hunter shoots at low flying birds (snipe) while one dog is retrieving a bird that he hit.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870
maker
J.E. Smart & Kahlmann
John Walsh and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2784
catalog number
60.2784
accession number
228146

Chase Nº1

Colored print of seven men on horseback and a pack of hounds chasing prey, which is not shown. One man's horse has stumbled and fallen.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of seven men on horseback and a pack of hounds chasing prey, which is not shown. One man's horse has stumbled and fallen.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1838
maker
Robinson, Henry R.
ID Number
DL.60.2674
catalog number
60.2674
accession number
228146

Genl Israel Putnam: The Iron Son of "76" Effecting his Escape from British Dragoons

Hand colored print of General Israel Putnam (1718-1790) on horseback escaping from British troops.
Description (Brief)
Hand colored print of General Israel Putnam (1718-1790) on horseback escaping from British troops. While Putnam had several heroic episodes during the American Revolution, this print depicts "Old Put" narrowly escaping the British in Greenwich on February 26, 1779 while he escaped out a window on his saddled horse and galloping off the edge of a rocky embankment while waving his sword in warning as he is being fired upon.
The graphic artist or lithographer of this print is unknown though it may be James Baillie but Sowle and Shaw is identified as the publisher/distributor of this print. John Sowle and Albert Shaw were principals in the firm of Soule and Shaw, listed in the Boston city directory as dealers of pictures (prints and engravings). The company was in business from 1845-1850 until Shaw was replaced by Joseph Ward as an owner.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1845
publisher
Sowle & Shaw
ID Number
DL.60.2536
catalog number
60.2536
accession number
228146

Kossuth and His Family

Color print; Full length portrait of a man (Louis Kossuth) standing indoors with two boys, a seated woman and girl.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print; Full length portrait of a man (Louis Kossuth) standing indoors with two boys, a seated woman and girl.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Kossuth, Louis
Kossuth, Terezia Meszlenyi
Kossuth, Ferenc
maker
E.C. Kellogg and Company
ID Number
DL.60.3178
catalog number
60.3178

Tamany Fish House, on the Pea Shore, R. Delaware.

Color print of a two-story fishing resort on the banks of a river (Delaware). A man is fishing from the end of a dock on which two couples stroll. A rowboat filled with men and women is in the right foreground.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of a two-story fishing resort on the banks of a river (Delaware). A man is fishing from the end of a dock on which two couples stroll. A rowboat filled with men and women is in the right foreground.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Duval, Peter S.
artist
Scott, Thomas M.
ID Number
DL.60.3755
catalog number
60.3755

The Little Playmates

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 (Brief)
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 is a black and white print; full length of three children. The girl and boy are on either side of a baby that is seated on a stool or outdoor cushioned bench. All three children are in fancy dress.
The print was produced by Sarony & Major. Napoleon Sarony and his partner Henry B. Major were former employees of Nathaniel Currier prior to establishing their firm in New York City in 1846.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
maker
Sarony & Major
ID Number
DL.60.2225
catalog number
60.2225
accession number
228146

Innocence

Colored print of a little girl seated on a pillow which is on a rug. Next to her is a toy sheep, around which she is placing a garland of flowers.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a little girl seated on a pillow which is on a rug. Next to her is a toy sheep, around which she is placing a garland of flowers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2477
catalog number
60.2477
accession number
228146

To the Memory of by E.B. and E.C. Kellogg

This hand colored memorial print depicts two gentlemen standing on each side of a tombstone. Behind the monument is a weeping willow tree and a white rosebush.
Description
This hand colored memorial print depicts two gentlemen standing on each side of a tombstone. Behind the monument is a weeping willow tree and a white rosebush. The monument is inscribed "To the memory of {blank}” and contains the comforting words of Psalm 91:2 and Psalm 49:15, which profess a belief in the resurrection and salvation of the faithful. On the monument are the words: I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge, my God, in him will I trust. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me." Memorial prints depicting gave monuments were common during the antebellum or Victorian period and the Kellogg family produced several similar prints.
This print was produced by the lithographic firm E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. Edmund Burke Kellogg (1809-1872) and Elijah Chapman Kellogg (1811-1881) were brothers of the founder of the Kellogg lithography firm, Daniel Wright Kellogg (1807-1874). After D.W. Kellogg moved west, his two brothers took over the family lithography firm in 1840 and changed the name to E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. The younger two of the four Kellogg brothers, they were responsible for the continued success of the family firm. These two brothers were also involved in the eventual partnerships between the company and Horace Thayer in 1845 or 1846, John Chenevard Comstock (1818-1862) in 1848 and William Henry Bulkeley (1840-1902) in 1867.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1847
distributor
Needham, D.
maker
E.B. and E.C. Kellogg
lithographers
Kellogg, E.B. and E.C.
ID Number
DL.60.2981
catalog number
60.2981
accession number
228146

Florence

This black and white print is a bust portrait of actor Billy Florence wearing a suit and jewelry in the shape of a horseshoe. Below the print the words “Park Theatre, / Saturday, March 11th” appear to have been pasted on, but part of the printing is destroyed.
Description
This black and white print is a bust portrait of actor Billy Florence wearing a suit and jewelry in the shape of a horseshoe. Below the print the words “Park Theatre, / Saturday, March 11th” appear to have been pasted on, but part of the printing is destroyed. This addition of the location and date of the performance is known as a "datebill."
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. This included immigrants, people of color, and prostitutes.
William J. (Billy) Florence (1831-1891) was an Irish American performer, song writer and playwright. He was born William Jermyn Conlin (his birth name is cited in some sources as Bernard Conlin) in Albany, New York and raised in New York City. He broke into show business working as a call boy at the Old Bowery Theater while rehearsing plays at night. Florence made his professional debut in Richmond, Virginia in 1849 in The Stranger and returned to New York to perform in Home in 1850. His unassuming charm, skill at imitating various dialects and ability to convey the humanity of his characters all helped him win over audiences. He married actress Malvina Pray (1831-1906) in 1853, and the two frequently appeared together, with Florence playing the part of an Irishman and Malvina Pray as that of a Yankee. In 1836, Florence launched a successful national tour starring in The Ticket-of-Leave Man, a detective melodrama about a former convict. He and Pray also scored a hit in an 1875 play called The Mighty Dollar, which was inspired by her observations of wealthy Americans abroad. They performed together in the play more than 2500 times during the 1870s and 1880s. In his later years, Florence formed a comedy act with actor Joseph Jefferson. His stage name was inspired by his love for Florence, Italy, where he had an apartment. Billy Florence was also a Freemason and has been credited with co-founding the Shriners, whose official name was the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
This lithograph was produced by the artist Joseph E. Baker and Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company. Joseph E. Baker (1837-1914) was a lithographer, cartoonist and pencil portraitist who became especially well known for an 1860 portrait of Abraham Lincoln. He began his printing career as an apprentice at J. H. Bufford & Co. in 1857, and eventually became John Bufford’s principal draftsman and illustrator of sheet music. During the Civil War Baker produced political cartoons and lithographs for Bufford. He also did playbills and advertisements for the Forbes Company. Baker later worked for Armstrong & Company, remaining active until 1888.
The Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company was founded by William H. Forbes (ca 1836-1915), who immigrated to the United States from Liverpool, England in 1848. Forbes became an apprentice in the lithography business while still a boy and established William H. Forbes and Company in Boston in 1861. The firm expanded to become Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company in 1875 with hundreds of employees and offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, and London. During World War II the company became a major printer of allied military currency but went out of business later in the twentieth century.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Florence, William Jermyn
maker
Baker, Joseph E.
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3022
catalog number
60.3022
accession number
228146

Untitled (Outdoor scene with a mill and people)

Black and white print; outdoor scene of two men, two women and a child frolicking in a clearing between a house and a mill with a water wheel. Man carries child piggyback. There is a lake and mountains in the background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; outdoor scene of two men, two women and a child frolicking in a clearing between a house and a mill with a water wheel. Man carries child piggyback. There is a lake and mountains in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.3015
catalog number
60.3015
accession number
228146

T.W. Dorr

Color print, half length portrait of a man (Rhode Island Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr) seated in a chair holding a document labeled "Constitution of Rhode Island". A column and green fringed drapery is behind him.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print, half length portrait of a man (Rhode Island Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr) seated in a chair holding a document labeled "Constitution of Rhode Island". A column and green fringed drapery is behind him.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1844
depicted
Dorr, Thomas Wilson
maker
Baillie, James S.
ID Number
DL.60.3181
catalog number
60.3181

Massachusetts Senate

Black and white print of forty-two bust portraits; each is in an oval frame containing the person's name.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of forty-two bust portraits; each is in an oval frame containing the person's name. The portraits are arranged in two concentric ovals around a title and a small scene of Boston across the Charles River with the state capitol building in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856
lithographer
Homer, Winslow
artist
Bufford, John Henry
publisher
Usher, James M.
ID Number
DL.60.2583
catalog number
60.2583
accession number
228146

Summer

Colored print; rural scene of a farm during summer. At center two men load hay on a haywagon pulled by two oxen. A group of people nearby enjoy a picnic in the field. A body of water and hills are in the background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print; rural scene of a farm during summer. At center two men load hay on a haywagon pulled by two oxen. A group of people nearby enjoy a picnic in the field. A body of water and hills are in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1871-1875
maker
Haskell & Allen
artist
Howe, E.R.
ID Number
DL.60.2637
catalog number
60.2637
accession number
228146

Feles Concolor, Linn

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of a brown male cougar standing over his felled prey. Forested mountains in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2736
catalog number
60.2736
accession number
228146

Quail Shooting

Colored print of a hunting dog presenting a retieved quail to his seated master. Another hunter and dog look on. Hilly countryside covered with lush forest and vegatation.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a hunting dog presenting a retieved quail to his seated master. Another hunter and dog look on. Hilly countryside covered with lush forest and vegatation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1857
publisher
Goupil and Company
artist
Marsden, Theodore
publisher
Knoedler, M.
lithographer
Muller & LaFosse
printer
Lemercier & Cie
ID Number
DL.60.2767
catalog number
60.2767
accession number
228146

The Mammoth Grove. Plate XII. The Orphans.

Black and white print of two trees of approximately the same size standing slightly apart from the rest of the forest.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of two trees of approximately the same size standing slightly apart from the rest of the forest.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1862
maker
Vischer, Edward
ID Number
DL.60.3843
catalog number
60.3843

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