Object Details
- 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, comic print depicts a man and woman seated on a sofa. The woman wears a long full skirt, tight bodice, ruffles on sleeves and an amulet around neck. The woman is displaying a simpering expression toward the man and is either putting a ring on the man’s finger or taking it off. The man is wearing a tuxedo with shirt pin. A high silk hat rests on the sofa beside him. The pair is sitting on a sofa of ornate upholstery, drapery and patterned carpet. On the wall behind the couch is an ornately framed picture of Cupid, who appears to be shooting an arrow at the man, who is perched on the edge of the sofa and appears ready to leave.
- Also known as H. Bucholaer, H. Bucholzer was a cartoonist who lived and worked in New York City. His work was published by James S. Baillie from 1843 – 1847.
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- Baillie, James S.
- artist
- Bucholzer, H.
- date made
- 1848
- Credit Line
- Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
- Physical Description
- hand-colored (image production method/technique)
- ink (overall material)
- paper (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 11 1/2 in x 8 1/4 in; 29.21 cm x 20.955 cm
- overall: 14 in x 10 in; 35.56 cm x 25.4 cm
- Object Name
- lithograph
- Object Type
- Lithograph
