"Euchered"

In this print, a seated woman (an old maid) with short, tightly curled hair and big ears--dressed in a blue dress with white cuffs and collar, accented by a yellow/red bow-- is weeping. Her face is somewhat contorted as tears run down her cheeks. Her left cheek rests on her left hand -- her elbow supported by a small, round side table. In her right hand, she holds a white handkerchief bordered in red. In the foreground at the bottom of the image, a disembodied male hand holds up five playing cards, with the top card labeled "THE LITTLE JOKER" showing a baby emerging from a toy jack-in-the-box. The title "EUCHERED" is imprinted in the bottom margin. In a card game, this term means that a player is disadvantaged or somehow cheated out of winning. Is the woman here crying because she lost in a game of cards, or in the game of life, where she missed out on marriage and having children?.


Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907.