Time is Money

In this print, a barefoot boy wearing tattered clothes and a hat rides bareback on an alarmed dark horse (its ribs showing and its tail cropped). The horse gallops on a race track from right to the left of the image. The boy uses a rope as a bridle and whip. At the upper left (shown in half length), a bearded man appears in the judge's stand with his arms upraised and his fists clenched. Beneath him, a sign reads: "$100,000 PRIZE/FOR THE HORSE/THAT BEATS/DEXTER'S TIME!" In the background, a wooden picket fence extands from the stand to the right. "TIME IS MONEY!" is imprinted at the top; a multi-line inscription appears in the bottom margin.


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.