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The statue unveiled - Print, Library of Congress collection
Summary
The "statue" is railroad giant Cornelius Vanderbilt, who in 1869 tried unsuccessfully to assume control of James Fisk's Erie Railroad by buying out its stock. Here he stands, like the Colossus of Rhodes, at the crossroads of the New York Central and the Hudson River Railroads both of which he owned. He sprays the tracks with a hose marked "270" which is attached to a hydrant. He also holds a whip and the reins of a horse. A steamship in the background symbolizes his commercial shipping interests. At left a diminutive Fisk waters his own line, the Erie, using a bucket and hand-powered pump while eyeing his competitor enviously.
Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 6125
Weitenkampf, p. 160
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1869-1.
New York City from 1835 to 1907 headed first by Nathaniel Currier, and later jointly with his partner James Merritt Ives. The prolific firm produced prints from paintings by fine artists as black and white lithographs that were hand-colored. The firm called itself "the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints" and advertised its lithographs as "colored engravings for the people". The firm adopted the name "Currier and Ives" in 1857.
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