ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Port of New York: Bird's Eye View from the Battery, Looking South

Publisher Currier & Ives American
1878
Not on view
This aeriel view begins near the lower edge with Manhattan's Castle Garden fronting the Battery, backed by a large park with a broad adjacent road and paths filled with vehicles and pedestrians. Beyond we see the Hudson and East Rivers emptying into New York Harbor, with the Narrows and Bay in the distance. The water is filled with sail and steam powered vessels, underscoring the city's position as a leading port.

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 with popular categories including landscape, marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Port of New York: Bird's Eye View from the Battery, Looking South
  • Artist: Lyman Wetmore Atwater (American, Burlington, Vermont 1835–1891 Brooklyn, New York)
  • Artist: Charles Richard Parsons (American, Brooklyn, New York 1844–1918 St. Ives, Cornwall)
  • Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
  • Date: 1878
  • Medium: Lithograph printed in color
  • Dimensions: image: 20 1/2 x 33 3/8 in. (52.1 x 84.8 cm)
    sheet: 28 1/8 x 39 7/8 in. (71.4 x 101.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.90.1058
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
The First Methodist Church and Parsonage in America, John Street, New York
Multiple artists/makers
1861–62
Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea), James McNeill Whistler American, Lithotint with scraping on a prepared half-tint ground, printed in soft gray-black ink on pale blue laid chine mounted on ivory wove plate paper; second state of two (Chicago)
Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea)
James McNeill Whistler
1878
Nocturne: Palaces, James McNeill Whistler American, Etching and drypoint; printed in dark brown ink on drum mounted medium weight ivory laid paper.
Nocturne: Palaces
James McNeill Whistler
1879–80
In proof of true love, a watercarrier skeleton arguing with a woman (Posada); two skeleton angels in upper corners (Manilla), José Guadalupe Posada Mexican, Type-metal engraving and letterpress on blue paper
In proof of true love, a watercarrier skeleton arguing with a woman (Posada); two skeleton angels in upper corners (Manilla)
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1890–1896
Toussaint Louverture on Horseback, Anonymous, French, 19th century French, Etching
Toussaint Louverture on Horseback
Anonymous, French, 19th century
Toussaint Louverture
1802

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.