The Great International University Boat Race on the River Thames (England) from Putney to Mortlake 4 miles 2 furlongs August 27th 1869, between the picked crews of the Harvard (American) and Oxford (English) Universities

The British universities of Oxford and Cambridge have had an annual boat race on a stretch of the River Thames southwest of London since 1829. In spring 1869, however, the captain of America's Harvard University Boat Club challenged his counterpart at Oxford University to the first international boat race on the Thames. Because so many Americans were eager for news about this historic race, the New York-based lithography firm of Currier & Ives hastened to take advantage of this momentous event by producing a print that would appeal to a huge number of customers.

In this depiction of the boat race which took place on August 27, 1869, two four-man crew teams (each shown with their oars mid-stroke) and their respective coxswains glide on a wide river. Closest to the viewer, the shell (flying a tiny red flag, signifying the Harvard team, on the tip of the boat's bow at right) is slightly ahead; its crew wears headbands and sleeveless shirts. In the other shell, the crew wears short-sleeved shirts and straw boater hats; a tiny blue flag (signifying the Oxford team) is on its shell bow. In the background are numerous rowboats, steamboats and other vessels with many spectators on board; beyond, on the river bank at the left, are crowds of specatators. Near the upper center, a large British flag flies from one of the round towers of Windsor Castle (shown above the treetops), although, in fact, Windsor Castle would have been some distance from the actual racing site. In the right background, there is a town with a tall church tower beside a smoking smokestack. The text printed in the bottom margin provides details about the race, including the names of the referees, umpires, and each university's rowing crew, as well as statistics about each crew's boat. Although the Harvard crew were ahead for the first half of the race, they were ultimately defeated, as the print's inscription documents.

Nathaniel Currier, whose successful 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.