Parsons, Charles "Clipper Ship Dreadnought off Tuskar Light. : 12 1/2 days from New York on her celebrated passage into dock at Liverpool in 13 days 11 hours Decr. 1854"

Charles Parsons (1821-1910) after Duncan McFarlane (1834–1871).  “Clipper Ship Dreadnought off Tuskar Light. : 12 1/2 days from New York on her celebrated passage into dock at Liverpool in 13 days 11 hours Decr. 1854.” 

New York: N. Currier, 1856.  16 x 24 ½ (image).  Lithograph.  Lovely original hand color.  Margins timed-toned with minor spotting and light mat burn.  Faint vertical slat stain in sky.  Else, good condition.  Sold as is.  Professional paper conservation will improve appearance and value.  C:1144.  A/A 

Although listed as a packet boat, the “Dreadnought” was as much a clipper as any of the many other ships of the period.  Built by Currier & Townsend at Newburyport in 1853, she was commanded for ten years by Capt. Samuel Samuels.  Both ship and master were featured in song and story in the 1850s, and the two seem to enjoy parallel historical fame.  The “Dreadnought” was used in the transatlantic route and made many record runs.  She is credited with the unequaled record of 9 days, 21 hours from Sandy Hook to Queenstown.

Charles Parsons (1821- 1910) came to America in 1829 with his family.  When he was 15, Parsons was apprenticed to George Endicott to learn the art of lithography.  Parsons eventually came to head the lithographic department at Endicott & Co., became a partner in the business, and deserves a large measure of credit for the firms’ long lasting success.  During 1854-62 Parsons not only produced many of the Endicott marines and landscape prints, but some thirty Currier & Ives marine prints as well. In all, Parsons’ career spanned about fifty years, in which time he created some of the most memorable marine, railroad, and landscape images ever produced.  His son, Charles R. Parsons, was a successful lithographer himself, and, like his father, produced many prints for the firms of Endicott and Currier & Ives.  Charles R. Parsons is especially well known for producing large chromolithographic views of American cities and yachting prints for Currier & Ives.