Mother's Joy
- 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, standing portrait of a young girl facing front in fancy dress with flowers in hair. Indoor scene depicts paneled walls, miniature tea service, tablecloth, ornate stool and rug. The companion print is "Father's Pride" (DL*60.2223)
- The drawing was produced by Napoleon Sarony and lithographed and published by his firm of Sarony & Major. 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
- distributors
- Sowle & Shaw
- maker
- Sarony & Major
- place made
- United States: New York, New York
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- ink (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 12 in x 8 1/2 in; 30.48 cm x 21.59 cm
- overall: 18 in x 13 1/2 in; 45.72 cm x 34.29 cm
- ID Number
- DL.60.2224
- catalog number
- 60.2224
- accession number
- 228146
- Credit Line
- Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
- subject
- Children
- Furnishings
- Toys
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Clothing & Accessories
- Domestic Furnishings
- Art
- Peters Prints
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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