This chromolithograph is captioned “Importers and Jobbers of Fancy Goods – French, English, German, Bohemian, Austrian and Italian Manufacturers; Tortoise Shell, Ivory and Other Combs; Buttons, Brushes, Cutlery, Indian Beads, Steel Goods, Jewelry, Violins, Strings, Threads, Needles, Pins, Perfumery, Pocket Books, Percussion Caps, etc. No. 245 Pearl Street, near John Street, New York.” It depicts the New York headquarters of WM. H. Cary & Co., an importing business run by William Harris Cary and his brother Isaac Harris Cary. The brothers started their business in Boston in the early 1820s and opened the New York branch in 1827, of which William Harris Cary became the sole owner. He was an extremely successful merchant, so much so that in the 1850 census his holdings were listed as totaling nearly half a million dollars. In this print, the WM. H. Cary & Co. building towers over its neighbors, while the stacks of boxes on the sidewalk and carriages in the street give the sense of a vibrant industrial area. The bright colors are a result of chromolithography, or color printmaking, which caught on in America in the 1840s and quickly became immensely popular due to low production costs and ease of mass-production. Attached to the back of this print is a letter to a Mr. Cary from Grace M. Mayer, a curator of prints and photographs who worked both at the Museum of the City of New York and the Museum of Modern Art from the 1930s to the 1960s, discussing the possible date range for this lithograph.
Sarony & Major (1845-1857) was a lithography firm founded by Napoleon Sarony on Fulton Street in New York City. Born in Québec, Sarony worked as an illustrator for Currier & Ives before starting his own business with Henry Major in 1845. The company produced prints such as a set of views of Commodore Perry’s expedition to Japan under the Sarony & Major name until 1857, when it merged with Joseph F. Knapp and the name was changed to Sarony, Major & Knapp. In 1867, Sarony left to establish his own photography studio, although the firm would continue producing lithographs into the 1870s. Sarony would later become one of the best-known celebrity portrait photographers in New York, photographing such notable figures as Oscar Wilde, Samuel Clemens and William T. Sherman.