The Rival Queens – Mary Queen of Scots Defying Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I, Queen of England|Currier & Ives|Mary, Queen of Scots

1857–71 · Hand-colored lithograph · Drawings and Prints

In 1567, a powerful group of lords forced queen Mary Stuart to abdicate in favor of her infant son James. A few weeks later Mary fled to England to seek help from her second cousin Elizabeth I but, was instead placed under house arrest, and remained in England for nineteen years--eventually executed for plotting to have Elizabeth assassinated. The present dramatic confrontation could not have occurred because the two never met in person. 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 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe. This uncolored example of their production demonstrates how, until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, with color added later by women who worked for the company.

Artist

Elizabeth I, Queen of England|Currier & Ives|Mary, Queen of Scots

Date

1857–71

Medium

Hand-colored lithograph

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Susan Dwight Bliss, 1958