The Life & Age of Woman.

PrinterPrinted by Kelloggs & Comstock (American, 1848 - 1850)

PublisherPublished by Kelloggs & Comstock (American, 1848 - 1850)

PublisherPublished by Ensign & Thayer (American, 1849 - 1850)

Date1848-1850

MediumLithography; printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 8 1/2 x 12 11/16in. (21.6 x 32.2cm) Sheet (height x width): 12 1/2 x 17 1/16in. (31.8 x 43.3cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number1990.73.0

DescriptionEleven figures of girls and women are posed on a tiered pedestal. At the far left is an infant in a wicker cradle. She holds a rattle in her left hand. On the next step is a small girl wearing a dress and pantalets and holding a doll. On the third step, an older girl wearing a dress and apron holds a letter and a rose. On the fourth step is a young bride in her wedding gown and veil. On the fifth step is a young mother with an infant. On the top step is a middle-aged woman wearing a bonnet and cloak and holding a purse or reticule. On the first descending step at the right, an older woman wearing a cap and shawl over her dress holds a balance and a set of keys. On the next descending step, the woman appears older and more stooped. She is dressed in mourning, with a black bonnet and a dark dress. She holds a book and a handkerchief. On the next descending step, she wears a cap, eyeglasses, and an apron and leans on a cane. On the final descending step, she appears as an extremely bent and aged woman, leaning heavily on her cane and pointing upwards with her right hand. At the far right, an extremely old woman sits hunched in a chair, wearing a cap and holding knitting in her hands. Vignettes beneath the primary images show a girl in an interior, a rose, a tree, a tree bearing fruit, a fountain, a mill, a church, an elderly woman and a young couple seated in an interior, and an elderly woman with a cane walking towards an armchair. A sturdy deciduous tree is at the upper left; a weeping willow is at the upper right. In a vignette beneath the arched subtitle, a gravedigger stands beside an open grave in a cemetery. A man and a woman stand nearby. A horse-drawn hearse and a funeral procession approach from the left background.

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