Maritime History and Gilded Age Sport Currier and Ives Great Ocean Yacht Race Fleetwing Lithograph Documenting 1866 Transatlantic Competition

Currier Ives

Posters, Broadsides, Prints, Maps, &

The Yacht “Fleetwing” of N.Y. 212 Tons. Competitor in the Great Ocean Yacht Race, from New York to Cowes, Dec. 1866. Making the run in 14 days 6 hours mean-time, an original color lithograph issued by Currier and Ives documenting one of the earliest celebrated transatlantic yacht competitions of the post Civil War era. The image captures the yacht Fleetwing under full sail during the 1866 ocean race from New York to Cowes, an event that signaled the emergence of organized international yacht racing as both elite sport and national spectacle. In the decades following the Civil War, American maritime achievement and technological prowess were increasingly projected through high profile ocean races, and prints such as this translated those events into widely circulated visual culture. The lithograph reflects the intersection of leisure, commerce, and national identity within nineteenth century American printmaking, as Currier and Ives popularized contemporary events for a broad audience.

The Yacht “Fleetwing” of N.Y. 212 Tons. Competitor in the Great Ocean Yacht Race, from New York to Cowes, Dec. 1866. Making the run in 14 days 6 hours mean-time. New York: Currier and Ives, 1866. Color lithograph, image approximately 14 x 10 inches, framed approximately 17 x 13 inches, housed in original dark wooden frame.

The composition emphasizes the sleek hull and billowing sails of the vessel against open water, reinforcing contemporary admiration for speed, endurance, and naval craftsmanship. Currier and Ives, active from 1835 to 1907, played a central role in shaping nineteenth century American visual memory through accessible prints of political, sporting, and maritime subjects. A label on the reverse records its presentation as a 1941 graduation gift, adding a later layer of commemorative provenance while preserving the original frame. Minor wear consistent with age; colors remain strong and image clear. Overall condition: very good.

Item #17251

Price: $1,250.00