Yachts

1854 · réf. 17248 — 1854. Currier & Ives Dreadnought and The Great Ocean Yacht Race 1857 and 1887 preserve the visual culture of nineteenth-century American ocean travel competitive sailing and popular maritime spectacle. The pair joins two related subjects: the clipper ship as a symbol of speed trade and transatlantic mobility and the ocean yacht race as public entertainment tied to wealth technology and national maritime identity. These prints belong to the broad commercial print culture through which Currier & Ives circulated images of transportation sport news and American achievement to a wide audience. Dreadnought. Currier & Ives. New York: Currier & Ives 1857. The Great Ocean Yacht Race Between the Henrietta Fleetwing and Vesta. Currier & Ives. New York: Currier & Ives 1887. Two hand-finished color lithographs each large folio with image size approximately 13.5 x 18 inches. The Dreadnought print depicts the 1854 clipper ship and includes printed details below the image recording the vessel's dimensions and carrying capacity. The Great Ocean Yacht Race shows the 1867 contest among the Henrietta Fleetwing and Vesta with printed race results below the image. Together the lithographs pair commercial maritime power with elite recreational competition. The prints offer strong visual evidence of how nineteenth-century American audiences consumed maritime speed ship design and oceanic competition as subjects of display. Both lithographs have minor creasing and closed tears along blank edges not affecting the color images; very good. A visually appealing pair of Currier & Ives maritime prints linking clipper-ship commerce with the competitive culture of ocean yacht racing. unknown