Unattributed “Home From The War”

Unattributed.  “Home From The War.” 

New York: John C. McRae, ca. 1865.  Engraving by J.C. McRae.  20 x 16 (trimmed image).  Margins trimmed into image.  Chip at top repaired.  Scattered foxing.  Overall, fair condition.  

A large, sentimental image of the aftermath of the Civil War engraved and published by New York printmaker, John C. McRae.  McRae produced large, uncolored engravings of historical scenes in the mid-nineteenth century and the Civil War provided him with many subjects.  This image shows a soldier having returned from the war, missing an arm, being greeted by his relieved and emotionally overcome wife and mother.  The scene is quietly optimistic, for McRae surrounds the central threesome with the normal objects of home and hearth.  A child lies sleeping in a crib in the background, just below a table whereupon lies a box full of the letters written home by the soldier.  On the wall are two prints--one interestingly a print of George and Martha Washington issued by McRae--and a clock, while a flower pot sits on the window ledge, beyond which can be seen the village church.  This print was likely intended to appeal to both the Southern and Northern markets, for nothing in the scene indicates where this reunion takes place nor which army the soldier fought in.