Summer in the Highlands

Nineteenth-century Americans enjoyed pictures of peaceful country life, which presented a leisurely, healthy lifestyle, in contrast to bustling and congested urban scenes. This print shows an attractive country house set on property dotted with stately trees. In the driveway, a man and a woman depart in a two-horse carriage. At the right, a woman and two children stand on the grassy lawn sloping down towards the river, where several sailboats are sailing.

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. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the brother-in-law of Nathaniel's younger brother Charles. 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.