Collection Highlights
Portrait of an Unidentified Woman
Date:
ca. 1700-1725
Object Number:
1952.80
Medium:
Oil on canvas
SUPPORT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.
Museum Collections
Luce Center
Mansion of Happiness
Object Number:
2000.436
Date:
1864
Medium:
Cardboard, paper
Dimensions:
overall (open): 15 x 18 1/2 x 1/8 in. ( 38.1 x 47 x 0.3 cm )
Marks:
lithographed: on the board: "THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS./ AN INSTRUCTIVE MORAL AND ENTERTAINING AMUSEMENT/ Taylor & Adams Engravers,/ 29 Joy's Building Boston/ PUBLISHED BY D. P. IVES & CO., BOSTON, AND S. B. IVES, SALEM, MASS./Entered according to Act of C
Description:
"The Mansion of Happiness" paper covered game board chromolithographed with a spiral oval path with sixty-six spaces, more than half printed with virtues and vices; board inscribed, "THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS./ AN INSTRUCTIVE MORAL AND ENTERTAINING AMUSEMENT/ Taylor & Adams Engravers,/ 29 Joy's Building Boston/ PUBLISHED BY D. P. IVES & CO., BOSTON, AND S. B. IVES, SALEM, MASS."; label applied to reverse of board inscribed, "MANSION/ OF/ HAPPINESS./ PUBLISHED BY/ S.B. IVES, Salem Mass.;/ E.G. SELCHOW & Co., N. York.".
Gallery Label:
In this earliest of American board games, players strove to attain the seat of Happiness at the center of the board by living a virtuous life. Based on the Puritan view that success is achieved through Christian deeds and goodness, games such as this reflected the dominant beliefs of pre-Civil War America.
Bibliography:
Hofer, Margaret K. "The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games." New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003.
Credit Line:
The Liman Collection
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
