Print, Relief

Description

Page 536 of The Graphic, May 7, 1870. Houghton visited the North Family at Mount Lebanon in December of 1869 as part of his work on the series "Graphic America." The page features three illustrations, two half-width images at top and a larger image below. At upper left, "Shakers Going to Meeting," showing two sisters and two brothers entering the sisters' door at the north end of the North Family dwelling house, as meeting was held in the family meeting room rather than the Meeting House due to inclement weather. At upper left, "A Shaker Sleighing Party," showing a sledge carrying sisters at left and brothers at right, pulled by two horses; they were traveling to the North Family for Sunday meeting, probably from the East Family which was some distance away. At the bottom, "Dinner-Time at Mount Lebanon," showing a group of sisters carrying side chairs down a staircase, led at the foreground by three little girls; brothers can be seen at the left and in the background carrying side chairs from a different room. In some families, it was customary to carry chairs from room to room as needed, rather than producing chairs for each member to use in each room. In this illustration, the Shakers were bringing their chairs from the meeting room to the dining room of the dwelling house after the meeting had concluded. This image represents the first time a visiting artist was allowed to portray the interior of a Shaker dwelling house.