A Fast Team -- "Out on the Loose"

Thomas Worth, among America’s prolific nineteenth-century illustrators, excelled at drawing scenes relating to horses and horse racing, many of which were made into popular lithographs published by Currier & Ives.

This humorous print -- probably a later version of Worth's original lithograph-- features a black horse (a trotter with all its feet off the ground) pulling a one-seat carriage at a speed causing dust to rise up into the wheels. The horse and carriage are shown in a side view, moving from right to left. Two men (perhaps drunk?] squeeze onto the carriage seat. The driver (wearing a blue suit) holds the whip and reins; he looks ahead unconcerned about the horse's speed. He sits on the right leg of his passenger-- a man whose right arm grips the driver's waist. The passenger leans back open-mouthed (shouting or singing?), as he dangles his left arm and hand holding a burning cigar. The passenger is dressed in a yellow jacket, a pale red vest, light blue pants, and a black top hat. In the center of the background, at the far end of the pasture, a two-story farmhouse is set amid a backdrop of green trees and vegetation.






















Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century America. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the accounting-savvy brother-in-law of Nathaniel's brother Charles, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes, rural and city views, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments.