The Whale Fishery: Attacking a "Right Whale" --and "Cutting In"

Whale oil, used for lamps and making candles, was a major source of artificial lighting in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Consumer demand for this important resource prompted a thriving whale hunting (or whaling) industry. Yankee whalers departed from ports in New England and New York's Long Island to sail around the world searching for whales to hunt. The 1851 publication of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick increased the public's interest in whaling. Nathaniel Currier capitalized on this popular fascination by publishing his first whaling print the following year; the Currier and Ives firm later went on to create at least fifteen lithographs on whaling.

This print depicts an vigorous attack on a Right whale, a species of large baleen whales found in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, or in the south seas near Australia. They can grow up to more than 18 meters (59 feet) long and weigh up to 100 tons. Such whales were a frequent target because they were easy to spot as they swam close to shore and slowly skimmed the surface when feeding. After they were killed, their high blubber content made them float (thus easier to attach to a whaling ship and transport); subsequently, the high blubber content yielded large quantities of whale oil. Although the number of American whaling ships drastically declined after the Civil War, whales were still hunted until shortly after 1900 by American ships. Today, the North Atlantic and North Pacific Right whales are the most endangered whales.


Nathaniel Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored 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.