The graces of the bicycle – Antique Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: The graces of the bicycle, preserved in this antique lithograph. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
The graces of the bicycle
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Currier & Ives turned the bicycle into a comic subject here, and the title, "The graces of the bicycle," plays on the idea that riding was supposed to show off poise and elegance. The lithograph was published in New York around 1880, a period when the high-wheeler, with its enormous front wheel and tiny rear one, was a fashionable and frequently precarious novelty. Currier & Ives sold cheap colored prints to a broad middle-class public, and cartoons like this one poked fun at the new craze while still reflecting its appeal. The print is catalogued as number 2677 in the firm's standard reference, which makes it easy for researchers to locate.
| Created / published | New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1880. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : lithograph. |
| Genre | Lithographs 1880. |
| Notes | Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 2677 |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,128 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-174588 |
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