Distanced!!
Thomas B. Worth American
Publisher Currier & Ives American
Not on view
In this harness-racing scene, a sulky driver (shown in a side view)-- his whip poised high in readiness to deliver a blow-- races his trotter furiously toward the finish line. At right, a surprised official drops an oversized white flag. The lone sulky is far behind the other racers -- shown in the background on the other side of the track, between the grandstand and the judge's box. The print's title is imprinted in the bottom margin.
Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907. The artist of this print is Thomas Worth, a prolific nineteenth-century illustrator who excelled at drawing horses, horse-drawn carriages, and other subjects, many of which were made into lithographs published by Currier & Ives.