"The Berry Pickers," Portland, ca. 1845
Item 152016 info
Maine Historical Society
Joseph William Blanchard (1835-1889) of Cumberland
and Portland posed alongside a dog with a basket of
berries in its mouth for renowned portrait painter
Charles Octavius Cole. During the 1840s, people
associated humane treatment of animals with a moral
society, and artists sometimes used animals as symbols
to reinforce the shared innocence and vulnerability of
children and pets.
Cole painted several portraits featuring animals during
his short but prolific career, when pet ownership in
Maine was rising.
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