Father Mathew.

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

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

PublisherPublished by D. Needham American, 1808 - 1888

Date1848

MediumLithography; printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 11 7/8 x 8 9/16in. (30.2 x 21.7cm)
Sheet (height x width): 14 x 10in. (35.6 x 25.4cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

DescriptionThree-quarter-length portrait of a man wearing a double-breasted coat and tie. He holds a large circular medallion in his right hand. This medal bears a cross and the inscription: "PLEDGE / I promise while / I belong / to the / TEETOTAL ABSTINENCE SOCIETY / TO ABSTAIN FROM ALL KINDS OF / INTOXICATING DRINK, / UNLESS USED MEDICINALLY, AND THAT / I will discountance by ADVICE / and / EXAMPLE / the Cause of / Intemperance / in OTHERS." Patterned wallpaper is on the wall behind him. A fountain featuring a nude woman holding a shell spouting water is visible through a window with patterned drapery in the right background.

Object number1958.38.5

InscribedLithographed title beneath image: "FATHER MATHEW. / 186". On verso, inscribed in pencil, upper right: "65246 [crossed out]" "Box 30 / #12"; lower right: "consv CPC 1987" "Dwr 5". Accession number inscribed in pencil, upper left.NotesSubject Note: Theobald Mathew (1790-1856), an Irish social worker and temperance leader and Capuchin priest, spent many years working for the welfare and education of the poor. In 1838, he took a pledge of total abstinence and thereafter devoted himself to the cause of temperance, campaigning in Ireland, England, and North America.

Subject Terms