We Parted on the Hillside "Amid the Winter's Snow"

In this wintry rural scene covered in heavy snowfall, a brown horse (upper left) plods uphill, now detached from the sleigh it was pulling, since the harness and traces are broken. At the lower right, the sleigh is stuck in snowy ruts on the slope with its alarmed passengers: a driver (in a green jacket) and two plump women passengers crammed together. A horse following close behind them is biting the back of the gray coat worn by one of the women. Meanwhile, all three are being pelted with snowballs thrown by three boys standing on a snowbank (central middleground). A house with a snow-covered roof with some evergreen trees beyond is in the background (to right of upper center).The title (describing the predicament in a somewhat poetic way) is imprinted in the bottom margin.


Nathaniel Currier, 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 (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.