Lithograph on the wall in the office of the Deyo House

Description

This is a lithograph entitled “Lincoln and His Family”, which currently resides in the office of the Deyo House. It was made in 1866 by William Sartain and engraved from a painting of the same name by S.B Waugh. It shows Abraham Lincoln sitting at a table with his one arm around his youngest son, Thomas, and his other arm resting on the table. Thomas is sitting next to Lincoln with one leg and arm pushed back and his opposite leg lunged forward and other arm relaxed on his father’s leg. His oldest son, Robert is standing behind the table with his arm resting on an empty chair and other arm resting at his waist. Mary Lincoln, his wife, is sitting to the left of Lincoln and Thomas. Her right elbow is resting on the table and her hands are in her lap. They are all in elegant clothing; Lincoln in a suit, the boys in a nice shirt and pants, and Mary in a large gown. On the left wall, light is coming in through a window, which through the Capitol Dome can be seen. Next to the window is a bust of George Washington. On the center back wall is a portrait of William, Abraham and Mary’s son who died from Typhoid Fever during Abraham’s first term as president. On the table rests an elegant looking tablecloth and on top of it sits a vase of roses, magnolias, sweet clematis, and Virginia creeper (Lincoln Collection). This current print has been shifted in its frame and hides the engraving,  “Lincoln and His Family” on the bottom.

Full image where the engraving “Lincoln and His Family” can be seen

Historical Context

This print is particularly interesting since it’s not based off any actual photo of the Lincoln family. There has never been a photo of the entire Lincoln family together. Mrs. Lincoln had taken a group photo with both William and Thomas and Lincoln has only had a picture with Thomas. After Lincoln’s death in 1865, many artists wanted to show they’re grievances by painting pictures of him and his family, yet since there was no full family photo, they had to combine multiple photos to form one. By doing this, they somewhat alter history, making Lincoln seem more like a family man than he really was. But romanticizing the “great” presidents like this wasn’t uncommon during the colonial revival period when this was made. They also idealized his looks; Lincoln was a bit rough around the edges looking and often was self-deprecating about his appearance. Yet after his death, painters created a more flattering image than reality, bringing more color into his skin and smoothing his complexion. (Holzer)

Understanding the context of the colonial revival movement is crucial in fully developing what this print means and why it was made. After the industrial revolution (1760-1840), American’s were overwhelmed by how complex the country had became. America, a once “simple land”, was now a world power filled with millionaires, factories, and new immigrants. The wealthy elites found nostalgia in the simple past, connecting it with democracy, moral superiority and patriotism. Through architecture and art the people of the time tried to re-create the past to reflect their feelings of discontent with the modern world. But most furniture or artworks created in this time were widely inaccurate. What was made was an idealized past where people tried to display middle class values in order to show their moral superiority. Artists then wanted to put those values onto the great presidents in order to make the connection that both the presidents and the middle class share the same morals. This is why both Lincoln and Washington are depicted with their family, when they were not historically family men (Connecticut History).

The Lithographer: William Sartain

While William Sartain himself may not have gone down in history as a famous artist, his surname has. Not only was his father a famous engraver, but his grandfather and uncle as well. The Sartain’s are known to be the greatest engravers of the time. William (1843-1924) was mainly a painter though. He held some resentment towards his father and didn’t want to necessarily follow in his engraving footsteps, yet he didn’t have the means to do so. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and after gaining fame from making “Washington and His Family” in 1864, he was able to leave and study in Paris at the age of 25. The success he accomplished and the move to Paris allowed William to get away from his family connection to engravings and focus on what he truly loved which was painting. While his paintings were not loved by the public eye, critics revered his work and he influenced many young artists within Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His work transcended the realist painters of America and France, as he worked in the realm of romanticism. His paintings have been compared to the like of the infamous Decamp. (Ackerman)

Symbolism

There is also a lot of symbolism in this print that can go easily unnoticed. The George Washington bust is one that connects very well to the historical Colonial Revival time. The bust is meant to show the connection between the “father” of our country and “savior” of our country.  What is also interesting is that Sartain is known for another piece called “Washington and His family” which is seen as a companion piece to “Lincoln and His Family”.

Sartain’s “Washington and His Family”

The flowers on the table are also an important symbol. The roses in the bunch are meant to represent the north while the magnolias, sweet clematis, and Virginia creepers are flowers that grow in abundance in the south. The vase is meant to be the union of these flowers, therefore stating there should be peace between north and south (Lincoln Collection).

Since “Lincoln and His Family” is a print, many have been produced but it appears to be the most popular of the Lincoln family prints made during the time. There isn’t much record on the current value of each lithograph either. Yet Saunders in American Faces: A Cultural History of Portraiture and Identity, states that at the time made, it was worth $7.25 for a print and $20 for an artist proof.

Provenance/Narrative

The print’s connection to New Paltz is practically unknown since there were many copies of “Lincoln and His Family” made and there is no known donor of this specific print. Another print of “Lincoln and His Family” was donated to an organization in Osage and the family who donated it has said that it has been passed down in their family for generations. It’s not a stretch to say this specific print could have a similar background. To own a piece of art like such at this, one must have had a considerable amount of money. Therefore, one could hypothesize that this lithograph was handed down through generations of the Deyo family (if it’s placement in the house is historically accurate), since they were a wealthy family. It also makes sense of the time period of the mid 1800’s for wealthy people such as the Deyo’s to collect items that reflect the colonial revival movement.

Works Cited:

Ackerman, Gerald M. American orientalists. Paris: ACR, 1994. Google Scholar. Web. 4 May 2017.

CTHumanities. “Colonial Revival Movement Sought Stability during Time of Change.” ConnecticutHistoryorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. <https://connecticuthistory.org/the-colonial-revival-movement-sought-stability-during-time-of-change/&gt;.

Holzer, Harold. “How the Printmakers Saw Lincoln: Not-So-Honest Portraits of ‘Honest Abe.’” Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 14, no. 2, 1979, pp. 143–170., http://www.jstor.org/stable/1180612.

Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection. “Lincoln and His Family.” Lincoln Collection. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. <https://www.lincolncollection.org/search/results/item/?q=71.2009.081.1869&item=53980&gt;.

Saunders, Richard H. American faces: a cultural history of portraiture and identity. Hanover: U Press of New England, 2016. Google Scholar. Web. 4 May 2017.

I’m a huge fan of records, so for me to listen to an album on vinyl for this project would be kind of silly. But recently there’s been a trend of bands selling their albums on tapes, which is kind of strange to me, so I figured I might as well check out what listening to a tape is like in comparison to vinyl or digital. I only have one tape that I stole from my dad. I’m not really sure where it came from because my dad is in no way a “dead-head”. I’ve never actually listened it before, but my record player has a tape player built into it so this wasn’t a difficult thing to be able to do.

       I grabbed the tape and tried to shove it into the small slot into the side and I ran into my first problem: how does this fit in? I shoved that small tape into the player at least 5 different ways until it finally pushed into the slot. Yet, when it went in, nothing played. I pressed play, changed the settings but still nothing. I sat there bewildered wondering how this thing works. I decided to go along with the full analog experience and use my good old trial and error skills rather than googling it. It then hit me: don’t tapes need to be rewound? Next to the slot is this weird button that protrudes out. When you push it half way it rewinds the tape for you. I only noticed cause when I was playing around with it, I heard the small hiss of the tape spinning. I sat there on the floor for about two minutes as the tape hissed, and finally, it popped out. It didn’t look fully rewound but I was too confused to try again. I pushed the tape all the way back in and the music started to play.

Nearly 15 minutes later, I’m finally listening to the music. Maybe I’m just incompetent, but to me thats far too long to set up music. With a vinyl record you just simply lay it on the table and drop the needle, which can’t take more than a couple of seconds or for digital, you simply press play. The quality of the music wasn’t that amazing either. It was like listening to a bad quality youtube video. What appeals to me with records is the cracking and popping. You can literally hear everything on a record whether it be dust or a scratch. That noise is so unique to your record and that makes so much more of an intimate experience. I felt nothing special with this tape; I was more annoyed with how cumbersome it is to play.

The only thing that makes a tape better than a record is its size. In comparison to digital, the tape is just slightly more lo-fi and much more inconvenient. I think what is cool about tapes though that digital does not offer is the aesthetics; it’s simply cool looking. Tapes in general also provide for more personalization, similar to a blank CD. One could easily and cheaply buy a blank tape, make a cover, and record a playlist. While you can make a digital playlist, theres something so much more genuine about a physical object.It’s similar to why getting a hand written letter seems so more more personal than getting an email that contains the same words. I think because working within the digital world is significantly easier, and the easiness removes the feeling that someone put deep thought and effort into it. Despite this, I feel if I had to choose between only listening to tapes, or digital music, I would choose digital. Tapes are simply just too annoying to rewind, break easily and don’t even sound that great.

Lithograph on the wall in the office of the Deyo House

This is a lithograph entitled “Lincoln and His Family”, which currently resides in the office of the Deyo House. It was made in 1866 by William Sartain and engraved from a painting of the same name by S.B Waugh. It shows Abraham Lincoln sitting at a table with his one arm around his youngest son, Thomas, and his other arm resting on the table. Thomas is sitting next to Lincoln with one leg and arm pushed back and his opposite leg lunged forward and other arm relaxed on his fathers leg. His oldest son, Robert is standing behind the table with his arm resting on an empty chair and other arm resting at his waist. Mary Lincoln, his wife, is sitting to the left of Lincoln and Thomas. Her right elbow is resting on the table and her hands are in her lap. They are all in elegant clothing; Lincoln in a suit, the boys in a nice shirt and pants, and Mary in a large gown. On the left wall, light is coming in through a window, which through the Capitol Dome can be seen. Next to the window is a bust of George Washington. On the center back wall is a portrait of William, Abraham and Mary’s son who died from Typhoid Fever during Abraham’s first term as president. On the table rests an elegant looking table cloth and on top of it sits a vase of roses, magnolias, sweet clematis, and Virginia creeper(Lincoln Collection). This current print has been shifted in its frame and hides the engraving,  “Lincoln and His Family” on the bottom.

Full image where the engraving “Lincoln and His Family” can be seen

This print is particularly interesting since it’s not based off any actual photo of the Lincoln family. There has never been a photo of the entire Lincoln family together. Mrs. Lincoln had taken a group photo with both William and Thomas and Lincoln has only had a picture with Thomas. After Lincoln’s death in 1865, many artists wanted to show they’re grievances by painting pictures of him and his family, yet since there was no full family photo, they had to combine multiple photos to form one. By doing this, they somewhat alter history, making Lincoln seem more like a family man than he really was. But romanticizing the “great” presidents like this wasn’t uncommon during the colonial revival period when this was made. They also idealized his looks; Lincoln was a bit rough around the edges looking and often was self-deprecating about his appearance. Yet after his death, painters created a more flattering image than reality, bringing more color into his skin and smoothing his complexion. (Holzer)

There is also a lot of symbolism in this print that can go easily unnoticed. The George Washington bust is one that connects very well to the historical  Colonial Revival time. The bust is meant to show the connection between the “father” of our country and “savior” of our country.  What is also interesting is that Sartain is known for another piece called “Washington and His family” which is seen as a companion piece to “Lincoln and His Family”.

Sartain’s “Washington and His Family”

The flowers on the table are also an important symbol. The roses in the bunch are meant to represent the north while the magnolias, sweet clematis, and Virginia creepers are flowers that grow in abundance in the south. The vase is meant to be the union of these flowers, therefore stating there should be peace between north and south.

Since “Lincoln and His Family” is a print, many have been produced but it appears to be the most popular of the Lincoln family prints made during the time. There isn’t much record on the current value of each lithograph either. Yet Saunders in American Faces: A Cultural History of Portraiture and Identity, states that at the time made, it was worth $7.25 for a print and $20 for an artist proof.

The print’s connection to New Paltz is practically unknown since there was a lot of copies of “Lincoln and His Family” made and there is no known donor of this specific print. There has been a print of “Lincoln and His Family” that was donated to a organization in Osage. The family who donated it has said that it has been passed down in their family for generations. I think it’s not a stretch to say it could be a similar situation to this particular print. To own this kind of print, one must have had considerable amount of money. One could hypothesize that this specific print was handed down through generations of the Deyo family (if it’s placement in the house is historically accurate), since they were a wealthy family.

This is a dollar coin my brother got me a couple years ago. It wasn’t given to me for any particular reason other than that my brother thought I’d like it. He has a tendency to do things like that; give odd but thoughtful gifts at random times.

The coin is round, heavy and made of silver. The front has a engraving of Lady Liberty and around the circle says “E. PLURIBUS. UNUM”, which is latin for out of many, one. This is a motto commonly used by the United States to represent the unity of the states and the federal government.  In between the phrase and the date on the bottom (1894) are thirteen stars to represent the thirteen original colonies. On the back of the coin is an engraved picture of the eagle standing on arrows and an olive branch (America’s “great seal”). Around the circle it says The United States of America, on the top “In God We Trust”, and on the bottom “One Dollar”.

I’m assuming the coin was made at The United States Mint, where coin currency is usually made. I don’t know much about coins or how currently is made in general and in this moment I’m wishing I remembered my 5th grade US History facts.I decided to then Google this specific coinage and year. Supposedly the year 1894 is relatively rare for this particular series of dollar coins, which are referred to as “The Morgan Silver Dollar Series”. Some coins this date are worth up to a couple thousand dollars, depending on where they were made. I was doubtful mine would be one of those since my brother, although a coin collector, does not have that kind of money. As I was reading on, the page discussed the different makes of this year and how to figure out what kind your coin was. On the back, there is a “mint mark” which tells you where the coin was made. In this series no mark represents Philadelphia (The most rare and expensive), “S” for San Francisco, and “O” for New Orleans. Mine contained the mark “O”, which meant this coin was worth about $40. The coin could actually be worth nothing for all I know cause there is a hole punched through it, which is why I use it as a keychain.

Besides the hole and some scratches on the side, the coin is in very good condition; there is practically no worn to the engraving.  It makes me wonder, like I do with most kinds of currency, who has used the coin? What did they buy with it? How many years after its making did it remain in circulation? Can I go out right now and even use this? There is a whole history to this coin that I want to, but never will know. Now, with modern day currency there are stamps and other unique things that are put onto money to allow you to track their whereabouts, but this is still limited to paper money. The only thing I know about it’s connection to people, is my brother. After it’s creation 123 years ago, it somehow landed in a shop and then my brothers hand. Now that I think about it, it’s kind of funny the differences in it’s exchange. Once being tossed away to buy other things and now it’s the thing being bought. Money for money, what a strange concept.

This license plate has been on display in my different living spaces (my rooms at home and now my dorm) since around 2004. As I’m typing this, I realize how long that actually is. What use did a license plate bring, whether it be aesthetically or functionally, to a 6/7 year old?

This is a 1986 design of a New York license plate, which was retired in the year 2000. Its a rectangular metal sheet with New York painted in blue on the top and a picture in red of the statue of liberty underneath. Punched into the metal is a combination of letters and numbers which is painted over in blue. The background is white with red stripes on the top and bottom. It’s obviously been used, which is displayed by it’s cracked paint and bent state.

This license plate was either from a car of my parents, that was given to my brother or directly from my brothers car in high school. For clarification, my brother is in his 30’s so he was in high school in the late 90’s early 2000’s. Regardless, I would consider it’s original ownership to be that of my brother.

Technically, you could say it’s original ownership was the United States Government, since all license plates must be issued by the DMV; a United States agency. Yet, I don’t consider that ownership in my mind. To me, it was just created and distributed by them. Also, apparently the creation of license plates is done by prisoners, but I don’t know the validity of that.

The function of this object is obvious to anyone living in the modern day world; to identify a car for purposes of registration and other bureaucratic things. It’s a car version of a social security number. The numbers itself have helped immensely with crime in recent years with the advancement of technology; if one gets their car stolen they can try and track it with security cameras and identify the car with this number. In a more personal and simple sense, this plate allowed my brother to drive his car legally.

When it came time for this plate to retire, my brother put it on display in his room.It’s functionally was completely removed; the plate was now just a symbol or a nice display on a wall, like some sort of trophy. A couple years later, come 2004, my brother now went to military school and my parents were separated. I was sharing a room with my sister previously, but with my brother away, I was given his room. All his stuff was half packed into boxes or gone, but the plate still sat, pinned to the wall. I don’t know why I loved it so much; I always thought it was just “cool”. When we moved into our current house, I brought it with me and pinned it to the wall also.

Over this winter break, my brother noticed it in my room and he asked me how I got it. At this point, over 10 years later I almost forgot about it. He told me you could use old plates if it was the same year as the car was made, and he had been looking for it cause he bought an older car and wanted to use them. I told him how I took them with me when we moved and had it ever since. He let me keep it and told me it wasn’t a big deal but I just found it interesting how he remembered after all these years that he had kept this simple old license plate. I brought it back with me to my dorm after and I still can’t really figure out what I like so much about it. In a way, it’s a stolen nostalgia; remembering the past that was never truly mine.

I was inspired to choose this vinyl for my object because of previous discussions in class. This is The Rolling Stones 1971 album Sticky Fingers.

This object is square in shape with the image of a man’s pants on the front. Attached is a zipper that is functional, but shows signs of rusting. The front and back contain cup-like rings, yellowing and tears. The top is ripped, allowing the record to fall out. Inside the vinyl sits in a paper slip with one side displaying a picture of The Rolling Stones and the back, the logo and song list. Because of the rip on top, you can see the Andy Warhol signature, who Is famous of designing the artwork for the album.

This album resides in a card box box of albums in my suite. It was bought in the 70’s by my father, whose favorite band is The Rolling Stones. I’m not sure what he did with it or how often he used it, but it must have always been out on the coffee table because of the numerous stains and ring marks on the cover. I’m not surprised by the damage because my father has a tendency to not take care of his things. It could also be because records at the time didn’t have the same value as they do now since they were so common. I found this album along with hundreds of other records of my fathers in his basement. He was going to throw them out cause he has a distaste for vinyl records and I started screaming inside my head. There was no way he was going to throw out years of collecting records, so I gladly took them off his hands. I searched through the large box and took out all the ones that I’d listen to, which including 10 different Stones albums and other great classics such as The Clash, The Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, The Doors; I was in heaven.

Since this is an original record, it was made in 1971 and according the back produced in the USA. I wish I could find more information on it and found out where my dad bought it, but he probably doesn’t remember. I’m assuming somewhere in the town I live on Long Island since my dad grew up there too and didn’t leave until much later in his life.

There’s an obvious function of this record- to play music, but I think theres so much more to it. Music in general is an escape; it helps people relax or express themselves in ways they feel they can’t otherwise. This album in specific is important to me because it was my dads favorite. He would play these songs over and over again on long car rides and it sparked my love for classic rock. When I got older and was able to drive, I would also blast this album; it just creates the perfect background music for drives with your friends to the beach or to wake me up on the drive to school. This was all through digital versions of this record though, which don’t match up to the sound of vinyl. It’s pretentious, I know, but there’s something about the sound of original records that can never be replicated through digital sound. Its that crackle and popping; the sounds of imperfections-that small scratch, the slight warping of the vinyl. Because of these sounds it creates a whole new, unique and personal sound. Even if I went out and bought this same record on vinyl, it would not be the same. Although this record meant nothing to my father, it means everything to me.

The sentence that really struck me the most on a personal level in the reading was,”Moving house allows for a kind of critical realignment of persons with their possessions.”Since I’ve been slowly moving out my my home on Long Island, and preparing to move to New Paltz, I’ve felt this realignment that Miller is talking about in the past few months. I’ve realized how many things I own are simply in my room taking up space; they have no actual function nor bring me any sort of happiness. I started feeling overwhelmed by this thought. “Why do I even own this and where did this come from?”, I kept thinking to myself. After filling bags and bags of garbage and stuff to donate I felt more connected to my room and the stuff in it. I became aware of what the things I decided to keep, actually meant to me. Looking back I practically used to Konmari method without even knowing what that was at the time. Everything that was left was either for functional use or what made me happy. While doing this, I also picked out my objects to use for the first day of class, which were my boots and stuffed animals. Connecting these objects to my room now makes a lot of sense. These two things I picked out, specifically my stuffed animals, were my comfort objects and my room has always been a place of refuge and comfort. My room contains now mostly, lots of stuffed animals, memorabilia,pictures of friends, posters; practically everything that makes me feel happy and comfortable. Outside of my room, these objects separated wouldn’t create that same feeling. Yet together, they encompass me as a person. It shows my interests as a person, my background, and what I value. This shows specifically by my stuffed animals Sparkles and Sam. Out of context they’re just stuffed animals, but in my room they have a completely different meaning. They always lay right next to my pillow, being right next to me while I sleep. It shows their importance to my life and the comfort they bring me. The rest of my stuffed animals are shoved underneath my bed or tossed around and the juxtaposition of how I treat them in my room shows the value I put on them.

Millers explanation of accommodation also hit me personally cause I’ve always felt a sort of frustration with the objects in my room, practically the furniture because I’ve been accommodating living within my parents house. I’ve had to keep my brothers and sisters furniture in my room and it’s obvious that it wasn’t my choice. The stark white dresser that had been once been my sisters I attempted to make mine by covering in band stickers, which didn’t make my mom too happy. I tried covering the bright blue walls with millions of posters to personalize that too. Yet they’re was always still the frustration that my room could never fully be mine. I’m super excited to move and finally get furniture of my own that I choose and hope that my room and the objects in it will finally “feel” me.

I don’t have much in my dorm room to begin with since the space doesn’t really allow me to, so most of the items contained in my room are “necessary” items such as clothing/ toiletries. When I was looking around my room to choose a certain category of items to use the Konmari method on, I reflected on my bookshelf. I had just recently discarded many unneeded lotions and perfumes before break so it remained only half full of a couple things such as two things of lotion, some facial masks, one bottle of perfume, a bowl, some utensils, and a stack of books. The section on books within the reading had caught my attention and when I saw my own books on my shelf, taking up much more space than the more functional items, I reflected on what she said. I have a pretty large book collection in my room at home and when coming to college I took a few in case I got bored and wished to read them. I only brought about ten with me, but when I grabbed them all off the shelf and onto my desk I realized there was only two books there I had actually completed. I love reading but for some reason it always came with this weird anxiety; I always feel like I missed something, when I didn’t, and i’ll re-read paragraphs over and over. It leads me to consistently only read the first 30 pages of most books I pick up. Most of the books I had are Chuck Palahniuk cause I’ve had a goal to read his entire collection of works. It made me disappointed in myself that I never actually did it, considering I had been collecting his books since I was 14. The two books I had fully read were Survivor and The Bell Jar ( I was probably 50 pages away from finishing SlaughterHouse Five).

My copies of both Survivor and Slaughterhouse five were very beat up, and when I picked them up I actually laughed. I read them the summer going into my sophomore year of high school. I had to go to sailing early so I brought them with me every day and would just sit on the beach, eat, and read.  I was always scared of people looking at me when I was there and I think that the time I took being alone to calm down and read allowed me to be more content with myself. Because of this I put those books in the “joy” pile. The Bell Jar was the third book I put in the joy pile. I don’t remember much, considering I read this book when I was 13, which was 7 years ago now, but there’s something about it. It’s not necessarily joy, more of nostalgia. I was an angsty kid who thought “no one understood me”, so of course I would have gravitated towards this book when I was that age. It really makes me want to re-read it and reflect on it now at the age of 20. The last book I put in the joy pile was The Diary of a Teenage Girl, which was a 19th birthday present from someone who I’ve been friends with since I was 10. It’s a important object for me cause I know a lot of thought was put into it and It was given at a time in my life when I was going through a lot. Its one of those books you can pick up and read parts every now and then, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing with it. All of the other books in my pile are just books I’m sure I would enjoy, but I have no special connection with, at least yet. I put them to the side, but I don’t feel the same way about books from what was stated in Konmari Method. I cannot simply just toss those other books because although it may take me a while to pick them up, I eventually will. I feel there is a time a place where those books will bring importance to my life, and I hope I will be determined enough to actually finish the Chuck Palahniuk collection.