"Rounding a Bend" on the Mississippi – The Parting Salute

Currier & Ives issued more than thirty prints of the great Mississippi River, with pictures of steamboats ranking among the most popular with the public. In the nineteenth century, steamboats provided important and practical large-scale transport of passengers and goods both up and down this mighty river; such riverboats navigated the shallow waters, as well as upriver against strong currents, thereby helping to develop trade between America's heartland and the Gulf Coast.

In this print, three paddle wheel steamboats are navigating around a bend in the river. The "Queen of the West," shown broadside at the right of the image, has just made the turn; a rocket (the "parting salute" of the print's title) fired off the upper deck of its stern acts as a signal to the two other boats approaching the bend. A full moon, shining through the clouds at left, dramatically illuminates the edges of the clouds and is reflected upon the water. Originally printed as a black and white lithograph with a cloudless sky, hand-coloring transformed the image into a captivating moonlit night scene, further accented by the orange fiery smoke belching out of the smokestacks, and the colorful firework explosion of the signal rocket.

Nathaniel Currier, who established a successful New York-based lithography business in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. In 1857, Currier made accountant James Merritt Ives, his brother Charles's brother-in-law, a partner; renamed "Currier & Ives," the firm continued until 1907. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring landscapes, rural and city views, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. Frances Flora (Fanny) Palmer was one of the most important artists working for Nathaniel Currier, and later Currier & Ives, between 1849 and 1868, when she produced approximately 200 of the firm's best landscapes and most engaging scenes of daily life. Although it was unusual for a woman to achieve such prominence in the print world of the day, Palmer deserves recognition for playing such a principal role for Currier & Ives firm.