This painted print of an original oil on canvas was made after 1889. The primary school age children are depicted seated on four long wooden benches, while a female teacher speaks with a student in the background. The students, all boys, are wearing smock-like uniforms. Such long benches and corresponding long tables were considered appropriate seating arrangements for young children.
The original painting on which this print is based was by the French artist Henri Jules Jean Geoffrey (1853-1924). The original, which is hanging in the Ministere de l’Education Nationale in Paris, was painted in 1889. It was once assumed to be an American classroom because it had been hung next to an exhibition of the American School in Paris. The lithograph is attributed to Henry Kroger (1852-1918), a lithographer and artist active in Cincinnati and Cleveland 1870-at least 1900 but it is possible that it is a much later giclee print.
This is a framed retirement certificate presented to a Miss Bruce, Headmistress, by the Dunlop School Board, dated June 6, 1899. The documen, written in very legible script, praises this well loved teacher who resigned due to ill health. It was presented to her by the local school board, representing the community, and is effusive with praise of her devotion to students and skill as a teacher. It is richly decorated with intricate, multi-colored floral illustrations in the margin and mounted in a gold-toned wooden frame. We do not know the particulars of the Dunlop school, but the inscription at the bottom appears to be that of the printer or peson responsible for the creation of the commendation, C.H. Mailer with the place as Blairgowrie, which is in Scotland.
This oil on canvas is entitled “Tardy Again” by Robert Greenlees. It depicts a schoolmaster seated at a desk looking sternly at a boy who is standing nervously, hat in hand. Four boys seated at a table are looking on in a concerned and/or amused manner. The frame is gilded and elaborate. A metal label with the title, artist’s name, and birth/death dates is attached to the frame.
Robert Greenlees (1820 – 1904) was a Scottish artist and educator. He served as Headmaster of the Glasgow School of Art from 1863-1881. He supported Life Classes for women and employed women teachers at the school, including his daughter.
Blue leather cover, marked "Autographs" in gold, with first several pages used. Many signed with "San Francisco" and the date. Seems to have been used at the end of a school term: "I have often looked upon it as the wost condition of man's destiny, that persons are so often torn asunder just as they become happy in each others society".