Popping the Question
date: label: date made
content: 1846
name: label: maker
content: Sarony & Major
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 three-quarter length portrait of man and woman seated indoors. The woman is finely dressed in a long dress with lace trim, gloves, and a jewel on her forehead. The gentleman wears a dress coat and plaid trousers. He appears to be pondering how best to ask marriage. Room furnishings include: an ornate table and side chairs,an open jewelry box and vase on a table and a guitar under table. Fancy lace curtains, draperies, and a carved mirror decorate the room.
label: Description
content: The print was produced by Sarony & Major. Napoleon Sarony (1821–1896) was born in Quebec, Canada and trained under several lithography firms including Currier & Ives and H.R. Robinson. Sarony was also known for his successful experiments in early photography, eventually developing a cabinet-sized camera. In 1846, Sarony partnered with another former apprentice of Nathaniel Currier, Henry B. Major and created Sarony & Major Lithography firm. Joseph F. Knapp joined the firm in 1857. Sarony, Major & Knapp earned a solid reputation for lithography and the company was especially known for its fine art chromolithography. Unfortunately, by the 1870s, the firm shifted focus to the more profitable area of advertising. It also expanded to become the conglomerate known as the American Lithographic Company, successfully producing calendars, advertising cards and posters. In 1930 they were bought out by Consolidated Graphics.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Courtship, love
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1840-1849
label: Subject
content: Adornment
label: Subject
content: Furnishings
label: Subject
content: Flowers
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Peters, Harry T.. America on Stone
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.60.2277
label: catalog number
content: 60.2277
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: 8 in x 12 in; 20.32 cm x 30.48 cm