On Board the Great Eastern ... [Suite of 4 hand colored lithographs depicting the hazards of women wearing crinoline aboard ship].

London: W. H. J. Carter, [circa 1860].

Price: $2,000.00


About the item

4 hand colored lithographs by Carter after SEM, each with lithographed publisher's catalogue on verso of other prints relating to crinoline. Approx. 15 x 11 inches each (sheet size). Matted. Housed in a cloth box.

Item #338809

Brunel's Great Eastern was launched in 1858, but was damaged by an explosion on her maiden voyage. After only a half-dozen years as a passenger ship she was converted to a cable-laying ship, laying the first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable in 1865. Ironically, the protective equipment to prevent tangling of the cable was referred to as "crinoline", although the prints (along with the other prints by the publisher) here satirize the ladies' fashion. The four in this suite depict a woman getting out of her berth, falling on deck, being surprised when a man mistakenly comes into her cabin and attempting to get back into her berth.