The Story of Poor Cock Robin.

PrinterPrinted by Elijah Chapman Kellogg American, 1811 - 1881

PublisherPublished by Elijah Chapman Kellogg American, 1811 - 1881

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

Original OwnerOriginally owned by Elizabeth Pason American

Date1852-1853

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): 16 13/16 x 13 3/16in. (42.7 x 33.5cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

DescriptionThree young children, a boy and two girls, sit on the grassy ground beside a small bush. The boy wears a shirt and pants and has a bow tied at this neck. His broad-brimmed straw hat is on his lap. He is reading from an open book which he holds in his right hand. His left arm is around the waist of the girl on the right, who leans her chin on her hand and her elbow on the boy's left knee. She wears a short-sleeved dress with a gathered bodice and holds a straw bonnet by its ribbon ties. The girl on the left wears a dress and a straw bonnet. A fringed blanket or shawl lies across her lap. Both her hands rest on the boy's right shoulder. A small drawstring bag or reticule lies on the ground. Two tall trees are at the left beside a wide stream or river. Two horses (or two teams of horses) draw a wagonload of hay across a wooden bridge in the left background. A house with a picket fence is in the right background. A dead tree is on the far right, with a rail fence nearby. Grassy fields slope down towards the river. Additional trees are in the background; hills or mountains are in the distance. Birds fly in the sky at the left.

Object number1970.44.9

InscribedOn recto, lithographed title beneath image, "THE STORY OF POOR COCK ROBIN. / 'And all the Birds fell to sighing and sobbing / When they heard the bell toll for poor Cock Robin.' / 146." Lower left, in pencil, "Drawer 20, #12-a". Lower right, in black ink, "Elizabeth Pason / For study out of school".

On verso, in pencil: upper left, accession number and "73161 [crossed out]; lower right, "Drw 58".NotesSubject Note: The composition was inspired by the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin?" The last two lines of the poem are printed beneath the print. (Finlay 3/8/2004)

Subject Terms