Sights at the Fair Ground

This bustling fairground includes barns, tents and a racetrack in the background. In the foreground men lead spirited, well-groomed horses, including a pair of large white horses with knotted tails. A boy rides a pony at center, and at right a large steer is surrounded by cows, sheep and pigs. Some people mingle around the barn and tents but most watch a harness race in the background.

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 brother-in-law 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 at home.