Unbolted!

Currier & Ives produced many humorous prints relating to horses, carriages, and horse racing. This comic scene shows a galloping bay horse racing towards the left, pulling along a terrified, open-mouthed wagon driver, who holds tightly to the reins as he stands perilously on the thin axle of two speeding front wheels -- that is, all that remains of his wrecked wagon. The man's short hair blows behind his head; he wears a blue jacket and gray pants. In the right background, the damaged wagon with only two back wheels rests on the ground; with the man's gray hat nearby. The title, which is imprinted in the bottom margin, refers to the "unbolted" wagon, which as been pulled apart by the bolting horse.

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. The artist of this print is Thomas Worth, a prolific nineteenth-century illustrator who excelled at drawing horses and other subjects, many of which were made into lithographs published by Currier & Ives.