Yacht "Puritan" of Boston

Currier & Ives|Charles Richard Parsons

1885 · Lithograph, printed in color · Drawings and Prints

Built in Boston, Massachusetts, the yacht "Puritan" was launched in late May 1885. Skippered by John Malcolm Forbes, the ship went on to successfully defend the American title at England's "America's Cup" regatta later that summer. This print served as a popular souvenir celebrating its victory. The New York firm of Currier & Ives grew from a printing business established by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) in 1835. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with James Merritt Ives (1824–1895). The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 7,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories including landscape, marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in black ink, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company. In the latter decades of the nineteenth century, Currier & Ives began to print, as here, in color.

Artist

Currier & Ives|Charles Richard Parsons

Date

1885

Medium

Lithograph, printed in color

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1951