U.S. ship of the line Ohio 104 guns 1847

Curator: This lithograph from 1847 depicts the U.S. ship of the line Ohio, a massive vessel boasting 104 guns. What are your first impressions? Editor: There's a subdued quality to it, almost ethereal. The palette is so restrained, almost monochromatic, making the ship feel less like a war machine and more like a ghost on the water. And, given it's a lithograph, the processes of drawing and printing are significant. Curator: Indeed. Currier and Ives, while often considered popular printmakers, operated within a specific historical context. The glorification of maritime power, especially in the pre-Civil War era, needs to be understood in relation to evolving national identity, debates over expansion, and the reliance on particular kinds of labor at sea and on land. Editor: Absolutely. Consider the sheer amount of material and labor needed to build, maintain, and operate a ship like this. The timber, the ironwork, the canvas – where did these materials come from? And who was exploited to get them? We should never separate art and manufacture from their supply chains and points of consumption. Curator: It is compelling how this particular ship featured in a period of intense naval transformation too. You had wooden sailing ships gradually being superseded by ironclad, steam-powered vessels. We could examine it as representative of this historical tipping point. It is fascinating how a simple lithograph can encapsulate and reflect so much about a country's changing political and economic landscape. Editor: I also notice the ship's flags: the clear declaration of identity with a certain regime or ruling entity; or more simply its owners; who would have a stake in production. The ship exists only as a functional enterprise, the materials involved a set of resources geared towards production or even a mechanism for social change. Curator: Seeing it in this way helps reveal layers of social context which otherwise may remain unseen, from labor and naval power, to technology and design! Editor: Yes, moving from simply observing the art piece to revealing those deeper structural, tangible roots. It certainly highlights important things.