The Children in the Wood.

PrinterPrinted by E.B. & E.C. Kellogg (American, 1840 - 1867)

PublisherPublished by E.B. & E.C. Kellogg (American, 1840 - 1867)

PublisherPublished by Ensign, Thayer & Co. (American, 1850 - 1852)

Date1855-1856

MediumLithography; printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 11 11/16 x 8 11/16in. (29.7 x 22.1cm) Sheet (height x width): 14 1/8 x 10in. (35.9 x 25.4cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number1986.49.2

DescriptionTwo children, a boy and a girl, lie in a forest. Both appear to be asleep but are presumably dead. The younger child, apparently the boy, wears a jacket or robe trimmed with braid and a wide sash. The older child, apparently the girl, wears a tight-fitting bodice over a long skirt. Her head rests on her right hand, in which she holds a sprig of flowers and leaves. A bird, presumably a robin redbreast, is perched on her left shoulder. Both children lean against a rock or bush. Rocks and small flowering plants, including what appears to be a foxglove, are in the foreground. Trees are in the background. A second bird is perched on an upper branch of the large tree at the right.

Collections

Kellogg Brothers Lithographs

NotesSubject Note: This print illustrates the ballad "The Children in the Wood" which described how two orphan children are left to die in the woods so that their uncle may obtain their inheritance. As shown here, following their deaths, "Robin Redbreast piously / Did cover them with leaves." The full text of the poem is in the object folder. (Finlay 3/8/2004)

Subject Note: Hartford author Lydia Sigourney published a less tragic version of the traditional tale; in Sigourney's version the children are rescued and survive. (Finlay 3/11/2008)

Status

Not on view