Clipper Ship "Dreadnought" off Sandy Hook, February 23, 1854, nineteen days from Liverpool

Marine views and pictures of ships have long appealed to collectors and popular taste. Built for the Red Cross Line of transatlantic boats, the "Dreadnought" transported passengers and cargo between New York and Liverpool, England, under the command of Captain Samuel Samuels. Early in 1854, the ship became celebrated for making the crossing in nineteen days (as the imprinted inscription proclaims), a speedy record for the day, which it more or less maintained in the years to come. Nathanial Currier's print helped to publicize that feat, and to ensure that the public, including prospective shippers and passengers, would note the name and owner of such a speedy ship. In the two years that followed, the "Dreadnought" made more than twenty voyages transporting cargoes of corn, cotton and other raw materials from America; for return westbound voyages, the ship transported immigrants and manufactured goods.


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.