The School Mistress 1794 engraving by J. Coles and printed by Thomas Macklin
date: label: date made
content: 1794-03-20
label: date made
content: 1794
notes: label: Description
content: A 1794 stipple engraving of a scene in a Dame school, in which an older woman, frequently a widow, holds class for other people’s young children out of her own house. Dame schools were common in Great Britain and New England during the 18th Century and into the early 19th Century but frequently provided only limited academics.
label: Description
content: “The School Mistress” depicts a teacher reading to a girl casually standing next to her, while the rest of the class busies themselves off to the side. It is a domestic scene, with dishes visible in a pantry and a cat seated amid everyone.
label: Description
content: The title is printed below the image, along with nine rhyming lines that describe the scene. The engraver is identified as J. Coles (maybe John Coles). The printer is Thomas Macklin (1752/3-1800), a successful, print seller, publisher, and patron of the arts of Fleet Street, London. Both the scene and the verses are from William Shenstone’s 1742 poem, “The School Mistress,” and this probably an example from Macklin's Poet’s Gallery project. The print is a copy of an original painting by English artist, Francis Wheatley (1747-1801).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
label: Associated Place
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Dr. Richard Lodish American School Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0095.074
label: accession number
content: 2017.0095
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0095.074
objectType: label: Object Name
content: engraving
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: engraved (printing plate (not present) production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: printed (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: print: 17 3/4 in x 21 1/4 in; 45.085 cm x 53.975 cm
label: Measurements
content: image: 13 3/4 in x 17 3/4 in; 34.925 cm x 45.085 cm