Central Park, New York – The Bridge

This Central Park view centers on the cast iron Bow Bridge, with men and women enjoying the lake from a covered rowboat near swans, watched by a couple from the right bank. Designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, the bridge was completed in 1862, spans 87 feet and is the largest bridge in the park.

The New York firm of Currier & Ives grew from a printing business established by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) in 1835. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with brother-in-law James Merritt Ives (1824–1895). The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories including landscape, marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company at home.