The Soldier's Return
date: label: date made
content: 1847
name: label: maker
content: Baillie, James S.
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: This colored print is a full length portrait of a man and woman standing, outdoors, with arms about each other. A riderless horse is tied to the wrought iron fence in background. The man is dressed in a blue military uniform with gold trim and epaulets and a belt buckle marked "US." The woman is in a simple dress, wearing a portrait miniature that hangs from a chain around her neck. A portion of the house is in the background. This is a companion print to "Soldier's Adieu."
label: Description
content: This print was produced by James S Baillie, 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1840-1849
label: Subject
content: Adornment
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: Subject
content: Marriage
label: Subject
content: Mexican War
label: Subject
content: Architecture, Domestic Buildings
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
label: See more items in
content: Art
label: See more items in
content: Peters Prints
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Peters, Harry T.. America on Stone
label: Related Publication
content: Garvan, Anthony N. B. and Peter C. Welsh. Victorian American
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.2254
label: catalog number
content: 60.2254
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: hand-colored (image production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 11 3/4 in x 8 1/2 in; 29.845 cm x 21.59 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 in x 10 in; 35.56 cm x 25.4 cm