Summer in the Country

In this idyllic rural scene, a man, a woman, and a boy on horseback, accompanied by three hunting dogs, ride up the tree-lined driveway of a large country house (at left), where a woman and two children sit on the front porch awaiting them. At a fountain set in the center of a circular lawn in front of the house, two children play with a toy boat. In right distance, there is a partial view of a lake with mountains beyond.

Nathaniel Currier, who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. In 1857, Currier made James Merritt Ives (1824-1895) a business partner. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes, or rural and city views, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories also including marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company. In the late nineteenth century, Currier & Ives began to print lithographs in color.