The story of The Third-Class Carriage, otherwise known as Le Wagon de troisième classe, is that of a family. Three generations are present here: young, middle-aged and old, almost as if it were the full spectrum of human life. Grown men are most notably absent, suggesting that these women are making their way in the world on their own. Although the mother's face is sweet, the weariness present in the grandmother's face suggests the hardships that she must have experienced in her long life. Her shrewd face confronts the viewer.
It was William Thomas Walters who commissioned Daumier to paint The Third-Class Carriage. It is one part of a three-part series which also includes The First Class Carriage and The Second Class Carriage. Daumier was primarily a lithographer because he could not make a commercial success of himself as a painter and The Third-Class Carriage is one of his few recorded painting commissions.