The Sale of the Pet Lamb

This sentimental rural scene shows a man in a cottage doorway talking to a woman who holds a baby, as another child clings to her and wipes away tears. In the yard at right, four children surround a beloved pet lamb which their widowed mother has decided to sell. The image is accompanied by a verse that explains what is happening.

The New York firm of Currier & Ives grew from a printing business established by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) in 1835. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with his brother Charles's brother-in-law, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895). The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories including landscape, 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 at home. Here, the image derives from a British engraving by Reynolds based on a painting by Collins.