I Told You So!

In this humorous animal scene, a seated bear, chained in the bone-strewn yard of a rustic shed, grins at a terrified dog gripped in its forepaws. A donkey, safely observing the situation from behind a fence at the right, comments (as the caption declares) "I told you so!" --just like wise, knowing adults say to overly curious, mishap-prone children. Currier & Ives made this print after a painting by William Holbrook Beard, an artist who was known for making satirical pictures of animals, especially bears, mimicking human situations. Undoubtedly this picture would have amused nineteenth-century American parents and children, while offering a light-hearted lesson in the virtues of obedient behavior.

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 the accounting-savvy James Merritt Ives (1824-1895), the brother-in-law of Nathaniel's brother Charles, 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 Currier & Ives firm operated until 1907, making lithographic prints of more than 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe of such 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.