CURRIER & IVES HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPH OF THE 1887 AMERICA'S CUP DEFENDER "VOLUNTEER"
Fully titled in margin "'Volunteer' Modelled by Edward Burgess of Boston for Genl. C.J. Paine Steel Hull Built by Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, Del. Spars by Geo. Lawley & Son, South Boston. Sails by Wilson & Griffin, New York.". Inscribed in margins with lists detailing the principal dimensions of the yacht and of the mast and spars, as well as "Printed in Oil Colors, By Currier & Ives, 115 Nassau St. N.Y." and "Copyright 1887 by Currier & Ives, N.Y.".
Condition: Overall excellent condition, there are no signs of foxing or staining, the paper is slightly toned. We do not believe this print has been cleaned. Not examined out of the frame. (PR1219)
Provenance:
Bob Bascom Prints, Burlington, Vermont, October 1996, purchased by the Kelton Foundation.
The Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts.
Literature:
Currier & Ives : A Catalogue Raisonné (Detroit: Gale Research, Publisher, 1983), No. 7004.
Note: Volunteer easily beat the 1886 America's Cup defender Mayflower during the defender trials for the 1887 America's Cup and won both Cup races on September 27 and 30, 1887, against Thistle .
Soon after the Cup races, Volunteer was bought by John Malcolm Forbes (who also owned Puritan ) and was re-rigged as a schooner in 1891. On August 21,1893 she went onto the rocks at Hadley's Harbor, Naushon Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. In 1894, in anticipation of racing with the British challenger Valkyrie , she was returned to her original sloop rig. She was broken up at a New York junkyard in 1910.
Dimensions: 22.25" x 28.25" sight. Framed 31" x 37".