Artwork
Cider Making
Cider Making is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist William Sidney Mount. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
A cider barrel stamped 1840 sits in the foreground of William Sidney Mount's scene of farm labor in Setauket, Long Island, where men press apples and women carry baskets under a bright sky. Painted in 1840-41 for the New York Whig leader Charles Augustus Davis, the canvas records each step of hard-cider making while echoing the Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign of William Henry Harrison. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired it in 1966.
Subject & Meaning
Beyond its straightforward genre subject, the work carries explicit political meaning.
The painting depicts the production of cider at a mill in Setauket, Long Island, showing men, women, children, and various farm animals engaged in the seasonal task. Beyond its straightforward genre subject, the work carries explicit political meaning. Mount, a conservative Democrat who opposed Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, imbued the scene with Whig symbolism: William Henry Harrison’s campaign frequently employed rural imagery to criticize his opponents, and the Whig Party was commonly associated with cider makers.
Thus, Cider Making functions as a visual endorsement of Harrison’s agrarian populism and a critique of Jacksonian policies, using a humble harvest scene to advance partisan argument.
History & Provenance
The painting was created by William Sidney Mount around 1840–1841, depicting a cider mill in Setauket, Long Island. Mount received $250 for the work. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains today. No further provenance details are recorded in the available sources.
Overview
William Sidney Mount's Cider Making, an oil on canvas from 1840–41, depicts the rustic process of hard cider production on Long Island. Commissioned by a prominent Whig, the painting subtly references the 1840 presidential election, where "hard cider" became a potent political symbol. It captures both rural labor and the political climate of its time, reflecting Mount's meticulous documentation of daily life.
Context
The 1840 presidential election saw Whig candidate William Henry Harrison successfully campaign as a man of the people, embracing the imagery of log cabins and hard cider. This contrasted sharply with incumbent Martin Van Buren. Mount's painting, with its dated barrel and focus on a traditional rural industry, resonated with this political rhetoric, even if the artist himself did not share the Whig party's affiliation.
Artist & collection
Artist
William Sidney Mount (November 26, 1807 – November 19, 1868) was a 19th-century American genre painter.
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