Winter in the Country.
Currier and Ives' Winter in the Country (a.k.a The Old Grist Mill) The Rural Industrialist. This print has all of the bells and whistles of an old grist mill. First of all, "winter in the country," the grist mill has a breast shot water wheel which is housed underneath to protect it from the snow and ice. This would have been common in the early 1800's. Up until the 1830's the breast shot water wheel was the most common water wheel type found in the United States. The mill is able to operate without balance problems during the time of the image was made.
To the right of the water wheel is the miller's office, and there is no signs of heat in the miller's office. To right of that is a team of oxen either loading or unloading its grain that would be ground at the mill. Then to the right of the team of oxen is a mother and daughter walking to the mill. My guess is that it is the miller's wife and daughter bringing the miller his lunch. The front of the mill has what appears to be new clapboard siding, but it shows signs of age problems, even though, it shows no signs of weathering.Then over the crude bridge is perhaps a customer taking home is load of ground grain by horse drawn farm sled. The crude deck bridge appears to be located just over the mill's tail race, and not the mill stream since the primary flow of water comes from the water wheel and not from the left where the mill stream and dam would be located.
I would think that the miller lives in a house just out of the image view to the right, and that the large farm stead in the background is a neighbor. The barn roof is that of a Dutch barn. Again there are mountains in the background, and if this rural scene that of New England is still yet to be discovered. The image was done during the 1860's, and may portray rural live of the 1840's. The major problem with historical interpretation of artist works is that the painting or lithograph may be solely based upon artistic liberties or imagination, and not reality.
Mill Dam at "Sleepy Hollow."
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