"A Balk" on a Sweepstake
Thomas B. Worth American
Publisher Currier & Ives American
Not on view
Thomas Worth designed many satires for Currier & Ives that responded to horse racing and driving. This shows two harness racers driving sulkies (light two-wheeled carts) who unexpectedly encounter a sweeper (left) grooming the race track. This causes both horses to stop short and throw their drivers into the air. The New York lithographic firm 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. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company.
