A Ride to School
1868–78
Medium
Hand-colored lithograph
Dimensions
image: 4 15/16 x 7 15/16 in. (12.5 x 20.2 cm) sheet: 7 15/16 x 11 15/16 in. (20.2 x 30.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962
Accession Number
63.550.356
Tags
Art Historical Context
**A Ride to School** (1868–78) is a charming hand-colored lithograph by prolific American firm Currier & Ives, masters of affordable prints that brought scenes of everyday life into homes across the nation. Depicting boys and girls joyfully sledding through snowy winter landscapes on their way to school, this small-scale image (4 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.) captures the playful innocence of 19th-century rural childhood. The firm's signature style—vibrant colors applied by hand over lithographic printing—made such nostalgic vignettes accessible to middle-class families, with over 7,500 different desig...