"Four-in-Hand"
1861
Medium
Hand-colored lithograph
Dimensions
Image: 17 9/16 × 27 3/4 in. (44.6 × 70.5 cm) Image and text: 19 1/4 × 27 3/4 in. (48.9 × 70.5 cm) Sheet: 22 1/8 × 31 3/8 in. (56.2 × 79.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962
Accession Number
63.550.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Four-in-Hand," a hand-colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives in 1861, captures the elegance and excitement of a popular 19th-century carriage sport. The scene depicts a team of four horses pulling a carriage, with men and women elegantly dressed for an outing. Produced during the height of the firm’s success, the print reflects the era’s fascination with speed, fashion, and leisurely travel by horse-drawn coach. Currier & Ives became known as “the printmakers to the American people” for creating affordable, colorful images that brought scenes of daily life and recreation into ordinar...