"When the Flowing Tide Comes In."

In this humorous print, three men and a woman are in a rowboat stuck in the sand at low tide. At left (front end of the boat), a bearded man (wearing a vest over his white shirt) leans backward straining to move his stuck oar through the sand, yet he fails to propel the boat closer to the water. At center, a plump man (wearing a top hat, blue jacket, off-white vest, and gray pants) holds his oar upright as it "drips" muddy sand. At the right (stern end of the boat), the woman (wearing a fancy brimmed hat, a blue top belted over pink skirt) sits primly as she holds a pink parasol with her right hand. Using her left hand, the woman grabs a bit of the jacket worn by a thin man (in a bowler hat and sporting a monocle and mustache) as he leans dangerously out of the boat in order to push against a pole to try to budge the boat. The woman's grip on the pole-pusher's jacket would not prevent his fall, which seems about to happen. In the right background, there are figures on the porch of a shoreline inn (beside a willow tree); a woman stands on a long pier. Sailboats sail on the water along the horizon (central and left background). The title is imprinted in the bottom margin. There are also Impressions of this image imprinted with the publisher name of Lipschitz & Son, London.


Nathaniel Currier, 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 (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.