1840s Art

Image dimensions: 24.3 x 17.5 cm. Single sheet with passepartout. "...The unhappy man had approached that mysterious spot where, amid a thousand aquatic plants, the Water-arrow gr...

Image dimensions: 24.3 x 17.5 cm. Single sheet with passepartout. "...The unhappy man had approached that mysterious spot where, amid a thousand aquatic plants, the Water-arrow gr...

Salvator Rosa at the Brigands is an original artwork realized by Adolphe Pierre Riffaut in 1844. Original lithograph on paper after A. Guignot. Artist's proof before Letter. Passepa...

Vue du châteaux de Chenonceaux Lithograph, 1843 Letterpress signature lower left corner Signature of the printer lower right corner After Pierre Justin Ouvrié (1806-1879) Published b...

Honoré BARMONT Paris, 1810 – Paris, 1851 Oil on canvas 36 x 25 cm (48 x 38 cm with the frame) Signed and dated lower right “Honoré Barmont / 1842” Beautiful 19th century frame in gil...

Lithograph on paper. Plate from the Series "Les Fleurs Animées". Single sheet with passepartout.  "Remember... that true greatness and genuine purity can live only in solitude. Tak...

The Boss Crocodile is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Published by Manesq & ...

Hand-colored lithograph 1st ed. Royal Octavo Master printer: J.T. Bowen John James Audubon was born in Haiti in 1785. Most of his childhood was spent in ...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Glaucus Gull - Burgomaster" (Plate 449, No. 90) Portfolio: The Birds of America (First Royal Octavo Edition) Year: 1840-1844 ...

Léonie POISSON (XIX) Black chalk and white chalk 56 x 45 cm (66 x 55 cm with frame) Signed and dated lower right "Léonie Poisson / Août 1845"

David Roberts RA Approach to Mt Sinai 1796 - 1864 Subscription and first edition lithographs in stock Full plate: 122 Presented in a acid free mount

R.A.E Little Christ's College Chapel, Cambridge, 1842 Watercolour 20 x 26 cm Charming watercolour depicting a view of Christ's College Chapel in the mid nineteenth century. In thi...

The present hand-colored lithograph is one of several decorative images of flower-filled vases published by Nathaniel Currier. This example contains roses, tulips, forget-me-nots, and others all within a vase with gold eagle head handles and an image of a beautiful young woman the belly. 16 x 11 inches, artwork 22.5 x 18.25 inches, frame Entitled bottom center Signed in the stone, lower left "Lith. and Pub. by N. Currier" Inscribed lower right "152 Nassau St. Cor. of Spruce N.Y." Copyrighted bottom center "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1848 by N. Currier in the Clerk's office of the Southern District of N.Y." with the number 249 Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting, housed in a lemon gold moulding. Nathaniel Currier was a tall introspective man with a melancholy nature. He could captivate people with his piercing stare or charm them with his sparkling blue eyes. Nathaniel was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on March 27th, 1813, the second of four children. His parents, Nathaniel and Hannah Currier, were distant cousins who lived a humble yet spartan life. When Nathaniel was eight years old, tragedy struck. Nathaniel’s father unexpectedly passed away leaving Nathaniel and his eleven-year-old brother Lorenzo to provide for the family. In addition to their mother, Nathaniel and Lorenzo had to care for six-year-old sister Elizabeth and two-year-old brother Charles. Nathaniel worked a series of odd jobs to support the family, and at fifteen, he started what would become a life-long career when he apprenticed in the Boston lithography shop of William and John Pendleton. A Bavarian gentleman named Alois Senefelder invented lithography just 30 years prior to young Nat Currier’s apprenticeship. While under the employ of the brothers Pendleton, Nat was taught the art of lithography by the firm’s chief printer, a French national named Dubois, who brought the lithography trade to America. Lithography involves grinding a piece of limestone flat and smooth then drawing in mirror image on the stone with a special grease pencil. After the image is completed, the stone is etched with a solution of aqua fortis leaving the greased areas in slight relief. Water is then used to wet the stone and greased-ink is rolled onto the raised areas. Since grease and water do not mix, the greased-ink is repelled by the moisture on the stone and clings to the original grease pencil lines. The stone is then placed in a press and used as a printing block to impart black on white images to paper. In 1833, now twenty-years old and an accomplished lithographer, Nat Currier left Boston and moved to Philadelphia to do contract work for M.E.D. Brown, a noted engraver and printer. With the promise of good money, Currier hired on to help Brown prepare lithographic stones of scientific images for the American Journal of Sciences and Arts. When Nat completed the contract work in 1834, he traveled to New York City to work once again for his mentor John Pendleton, who was now operating his own shop located at 137 Broadway. Soon after the reunion, Pendleton expressed an interest in returning to Boston and offered to sell his print shop to Currier. Young Nat did not have the financial resources to buy the shop, but being the resourceful type he found another local printer by the name of Stodart. Together they bought Pendleton’s business. The firm ‘Currier & Stodart’ specialized in "job" printing. They produced many different types of printed items, most notably music manuscripts for local publishers. By 1835, Stodart was frustrated that the business was not making enough money and he ended the partnership, taking his investment with him. With little more than some lithographic stones, and a talent for his trade, twenty-two year old Nat Currier set up shop in a temporary office at 1 Wall Street in New York City. He named his new enterprise ‘N. Currier, Lithographer’ Nathaniel continued as a job printer and duplicated everything from music sheets to architectural plans. He experimented with portraits, disaster scenes and memorial prints, and any thing that he could sell to the public from tables in front of his shop. During 1835 he produced a disaster print Ruins of the Planter's Hotel, New Orleans, which fell at two O’clock on the Morning of the 15th of May 1835, burying 50 persons, 40 of whom Escaped with their Lives. The public had a thirst for newsworthy events, and newspapers of the day did not include pictures. By producing this print, Nat gave the public a new way to “see” the news. The print sold reasonably well, an important fact that was not lost on Currier. Nat met and married Eliza Farnsworth in 1840. He also produced a print that same year titled Awful Conflagration of the Steamboat Lexington in Long Island Sound on Monday Evening, January 18, 1840, by which melancholy occurrence over One Hundred Persons Perished. This print sold out very quickly, and Currier was approached by an enterprising publication who contracted him to print a single sheet addition of their paper, the New York Sun. This single page paper is presumed to be the first illustrated newspaper ever published. The success of the Lexington print launched his career nationally and put him in a position to finally lift his family up. In 1841, Nat and Eliza had their first child, a son they named Edward West Currier. That same year Nat hired his twenty-one year old brother Charles and taught him the lithography trade, he also hired his artistically inclined brother Lorenzo to travel out west and make sketches of the new frontier as material for future prints. Charles worked for the firm on and off over the years, and invented a new type of lithographic crayon which he patented and named the Crayola. Lorenzo continued selling sketches to Nat for the next few years. In 1843, Nat and Eliza had a daughter, Eliza West Currier, but tragedy struck in early 1847 when their young daughter died from a prolonged illness. Nat and Eliza were grief stricken, and Eliza, driven by despair, gave up on life and passed away just four months after her daughter’s death. The subject of Nat Currier’s artwork changed following the death of his wife and daughter, and he produced many memorial prints and sentimental prints during the late 1840s. The memorial prints generally depicted grief stricken families posed by gravestones (the stones were left blank so the purchasers could fill in the names of the dearly departed). The sentimental prints usually depicted idealized portraits of women and children, titled with popular Christian names of the day. Late in 1847, Nat Currier married Lura Ormsbee, a friend of the family. Lura was a self-sufficient woman, and she immediately set out to help Nat raise six-year-old Edward and get their house in order. In 1849, Lura delivered a son, Walter Black Currier, but fate dealt them a blow when young Walter died one year later. While Nat and Lura were grieving the loss of their new son, word came from San Francisco that Nat’s brother Lorenzo had also passed away from a brief illness. Nat sank deeper into his natural quiet melancholy. Friends stopped by to console the couple, and Lura began to set an extra place at their table for these unexpected guests. She continued this tradition throughout their lives. In 1852, Charles introduced a friend, James Merritt Ives, to Nat and suggested he hire him as a bookkeeper. Jim Ives was a native New Yorker born in 1824 and raised on the grounds of Bellevue Hospital where his father was employed as superintendent. Jim was a self-trained artist and professional bookkeeper. He was also a plump and jovial man, presenting the exact opposite image of his new boss. Jim Ives met Charles Currier through Caroline Clark, the object of Jim’s affection. Caroline’s sister Elizabeth was married to Charles, and Caroline was a close friend of the Currier family. Jim eventually proposed marriage to Caroline and solicited an introduction to Nat Currier, through Charles, in hopes of securing a more stable income to support his future wife. Ives quickly set out to improve and modernize his new employer’s bookkeeping methods. He reorganized the firm’s sizable inventory, and used his artistic skills to streamline the firm’s production methods. By 1857, Nathaniel had become so dependent on Jims’ skills and initiative that he offered him a full partnership in the firm and appointed him general manager. The two men chose the name ‘Currier & Ives’ for the new partnership, and became close friends. Currier & Ives produced their prints in a building at 33 Spruce Street where they occupied the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor was devoted to the hand operated printing presses that were built by Nat's cousin, Cyrus Currier, at his shop Cyrus Currier & Sons in Newark, NJ. The fourth floor found the artists, lithographers and the stone grinders at work. The fifth floor housed the coloring department, and was one of the earliest production lines in the country. The colorists were generally immigrant girls, mostly German, who came to America with some formal artistic training. Each colorist was responsible for adding a single color to a print. As a colorist finished applying their color, the print was passed down the line to the next colorist to add their color. The colorists worked from a master print displayed above their table, which showed where the proper colors were to be placed. At the end of the table was a touch up artist who checked the prints for quality, touching-in areas that may have been missed as it passed down the line. During the Civil War, demand for prints became so great that coloring stencils were developed to speed up production. Although most Currier & Ives prints were colored in house, some were sent out to contract artists. The rate Currier & Ives paid these artists for coloring work was one dollar per one hundred small folios (a penny a print) and one dollar per one dozen large folios. Currier & Ives also offered uncolored prints to dealers, with instructions (included on the price list) on how to 'prepare the prints for coloring.' In addition, schools could order uncolored prints from the firm’s catalogue to use in their painting classes. Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives attracted a wide circle of friends during their years in business. Some of their more famous acquaintances included Horace Greeley, Phineas T. Barnum, and the outspoken abolitionists Rev. Henry Ward, and John Greenleaf Whittier (the latter being a cousin of Mr. Currier). Nat Currier and Jim Ives described their business as "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures" and produced many categories of prints. These included Disaster Scenes, Sentimental Images, Sports, Humor, Hunting Scenes, Politics, Religion, City and Rural Scenes, Trains, Ships, Fire Fighters, Famous Race Horses, Historical Portraits, and just about any other topic that satisfied the general public's taste. In all, the firm produced in excess of 7500 different titles, totaling over one million prints produced from 1835 to 1907. Nat Currier retired in 1880, and signed over his share of the firm to his son Edward. Nat died eight years later at his summer home 'Lion’s Gate' in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Jim Ives remained active in the firm until his death in 1895, when his share of the firm passed to his eldest son, Chauncey. In 1902, faced will failing health from the ravages of Tuberculosis, Edward Currier sold his share of the firm to Chauncey Ives...

Black and white lithograph on paper. Illustration for "The Analysis of the Hunting Field" by Henry Alken. Not signed, as issued. A finely detailed sporting lithograph by Henry Alk...

Black and white lithograph on paper. Illustration for "The Analysis of the Hunting Field" by Henry Alken. Not signed, as issued. This animated sporting scene depicts a moment of r...

Black and white lithograph on paper. Illustration for "The Analysis of the Hunting Field" by Henry Alken. Not signed, as issued. This finely observed sporting lithograph depicts a...

Black and white lithograph on paper. Illustration for "The Analysis of the Hunting Field" by Henry Alken. Not signed, as issued. A lively sporting scene by Henry Alken, depicting ...

Black and white lithograph on paper. Illustration for "The Analysis of the Hunting Field" by Henry Alken. Not signed, as issued. A finely detailed sporting lithograph by Henry Alk...

Artist: 広重 Hiroshige (1797-1858) Series: Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Tôto meisho) (東都名所) Title: View of Kasumigaseki (Kasumigaseki no zu) 霞がせきの図 Size: O-ban 大判 24.2 x 36...

Théophile Clément BLANCHARD 1820 - 1849 Oil on canvas 27 x 40 cm (45 x 58 cm with the frame) Signed lower right "Blanchard" Very nice 19th century gilded wooden frame French painter, lithographer and illustrator, Théophile Clément Blanchard is part of of those painters of the romantic era who represented picturesque views of France like Alexis Daligé de Fontenay or Eugène Cicéri. These painters traveled a lot and sought out picturesque sites, particularly in Normandy, Brittany, Switzerland and the Pyrenees. Blanchard participated in the illustration of “Picturesque and Romantic Travels in the Old France”. But the works of this romantic painter are rare because Blanchard died very young at twenty-nine year old ! We still know of him, in particular, a view of Bugey (dated 1846) which is at the Louvre Museum and a “Delicious Landscape” (from the 1840s) at the Salies museum at Bagnères de Bigorre...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Florida Cormorant" (Plate 417, No. 84) Portfolio: The Birds of America (First Royal Octavo Edition) Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 6.5" x 10.44" Image size: 3.75" x 6.25" Reference: Ayer/Zimmer page 22; Bennett page 5; McGill/Wood page 208; Nissen No. IVB 51; Reese No. 34; Sabin No. 2364; Tyler App. I Condition: Some minor discoloration upper center in margin. In excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Cleveland, OH. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", (First Royal Octavo Edition) (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted in the Florida Keys on April 26, 1832, Audubon's forty-seventh birthday. The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes and in coastal areas and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is entirely black except for a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin and some extra plumage that it exhibits in the breeding season when it grows a double crest in which black feathers are mingled with white. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like all cormorants, are not waterproof, and it must dry them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

The Dutiful Youth of Mino Province Collecting Wood to Warm His Old Father Color woodcut, c. 1842-43 Signed and sealed lower right (see photo) From the Series: "Honcho nijushi-ko" (Tw...

Etching realized in the ancient style by Levasseur in 1847. Outlined hand color applied at the time of printing. It shows the region of Garonne, whose capital is Toulouse. Full ma...

This 1846 original lithographic engraving after Théodore Du Moncel depicts the Ruins of Tiryns (Ruines de Tirynthe), one of the major archaeological sites of ancient Greece, and form...

This 1846 original lithographic engraving after Théodore Du Moncel depicts the Église des Camnicarées (more commonly known as the Kapnikarea Church) in Athens, one of the most import...

Honore-Victor Daumier (1808–1879) - Caricature. "A bon chat bon rat" lithograph on paper, 30x22 cm

An acute observer of nature Barye was fascinated by the dramatic depiction of animals in the wild. These anomalies bronzes can sit on mantles and desks and elevate a room tremendousl...

Utagawa Toyokuni II (Toyoshige, 1777-1835) Bijin and her Playful Child, 1842 Edo period Woodblock print Oban size

Achille Devéria (1800-1857) A young woman seen in profile Black Chalk on paper with cut edges Bears the stamp of the Achille Deveria Estate Sale of 1...

"Moqui Dancers, Moqui Pipe, Navajo Cradle & Headdress" is a hand-colored engraving by Seth Eastman. It depicts encyclopedic depictions of Native Amer...

"Worm-Wood Hare" is an original color lithograph by John James Audubon. It depicts three brown rabbits in a landscape. No. 18, Plate LXXXVIII, On Stone by W.E. Hitchcock. 6" x 8" ar...

Lithograph on wove paper. Signed and dated in the plate. This lithograph by Auguste Raffet, one of France’s most celebrated lithographers of the 19th century, presents a romantic v...

Lithograph on wove paper. Signed and dated in the plate. Image dimension: 19x33 cm. This finely executed lithograph by Auguste Raffet depicts a vivid coastal scene on the shores o...

Lithograph on wove paper. Signed and dated in the plate. Image dimension: 16.5x33. This finely detailed lithograph by Auguste Raffet depicts a rustic Crimean village scene, part of...

Lithograph realized by Raffet in 1841. Signed and dated in the plate. Iage dimension 25x35 cm. The composition presents an intimate domestic scene with a strong ethnographic chara...

Lithograph realized by Raffet in 1841. Signed and dated in the plate. Image dimension: 24x32 cm. This fine lithograph by Auguste Raffet depicts a detailed village scene in the Cauc...

Lithograph realized by Raffet in 1846. Signed and dated in the plate. Image dimension 19x42 cm. A finely detailed lithograph by Auguste Raffet, depicting the bustling market of Lis...

Lithograph on wove paper. Signed and dated in the plate. Image dimension 19x42 cm. A sweeping and atmospheric composition by Auguste Raffet, master of lithographic detail, depicti...

Lithograph on wove paper realized by Raffet in 1844. Signed and dated in the plate. Image dimension: 28x22 cm. This finely executed lithograph by Auguste Raffet depicts a group of ...

This remarkable 1846 lithograph offers a sweeping and richly detailed view of the Propylaea and the Temple of Athena Nike—referred to here as the Temple de la Victoire (Aptère)—captu...

Lithograph, c. 1840s Image dimension 19.5x32 cm. Signed in the plate. A dynamic and finely observed lithograph by Auguste Raffet, depicting a festive gathering in a Romanian milit...

Lithograph on wove paper realized in 1846. Signed and dated in the plate. Light overall foxing and toning consistent with age, more pronounced in the margins; slight water stain vi...

Lithograph on wove paper, realized in 1841. Signed and dated in the plate.  Superb 19th-century lithograph by Auguste Raffet depicting a group of Arnauts (Albanian irregular soldie...

Lithograph on laid paper realized in the mid-19th Century. Titled Le Mercredi des Cendres (“Ash Wednesday”), it depicts a lively and tumultuous street carnival scene, animated with ...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1845. This finely detailed lithograph by the acclaimed French artist and lithographer August Raffet depicts an intimate interior sc...

Lithograph on paper, realized in 1845. This finely detailed lithograph by Auguste Raffet depicts a scene at the guard camp in Bourgas, featuring Russian soldiers and Cossacks during...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1841. It is part of the suite "Crimée". Image dimension cm. 29x21. Signed and dated in the plate. Very good condition. Auguste ...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1841. It is part of the suite "Crimée". Image dimension cm. 24x32.5. Signed and dated in the plate. Very good condition. August...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1841. It is part of the suite "Crimée". Image dimension cm. 14x34. Signed and dated in the plate. Very good condition. Auguste ...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1840. It is part of the suite "Crimée". Image dimension cm. 26x20. Signed and dated in the plate. Very good condition. Auguste ...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1840. It is part of the suite "Crimée". Image dimension cm. 24x32. Signed and dated in the plate. Very good condition. Auguste ...

Lithograph on paper realized by Auguste Raffet in 1841. It is part of the suite "Crimée". The scene depicts a group of Russian peasants (likely from the southern regions or Crimea)...

Attribuetd to Eugène Devéria (1805-1865) La Famille heureuse (The Happy Family) Watercolor on paper 23 x 18 cm In quite good condition : a small tear i...

Signed lower right - David Cox (1783 – 1859). The scene on the coast, the impending storm wind. The depiction of wind in art has always been a symbol of change and a reminder that everything in this world is relative... Beautiful landscape full of expression and dynamism. Antique oil painting on wood...

Eugène Devéria (1805-1865) Two Children in a tondo Portrait in an oval, study for a portrait Black pencil on paper 23 x 19 cm Stamp of the workshop o...

Utagawa Toyokuni II (Toyoshige, 1777-1835) Mother and Baby  from Ogura Imitations of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets" (Ogura nazora-e Hyaku-nin isshu), 1840s Edo period Woodbl...

Portrait is a Lithograph realized by Auguste Raffet (1804-1860). Good condition on a yellowed paper. Hand signed and dated by the artist on the lower right corner. Denis Auguste M...

Lithograph realized by Daumier in 1845, belonging to the Series "Les Gens de Justice" Table no. 20 of the Series. Monogrammed in the plate. Very good condition. Ref. Delteil 1356

The French attack is a Lithograph realized by Auguste Raffet in the 1860s. Belongs to the series "Souvenir d'Italie - Expédition de Rome". Signed on the plate. Good condition

The French attack on Porta San Pancrazio is a Lithograph realized by Auguste Raffet in the 1860s. Belongs to the series "Souvenir d'Italie - Expédition de Rome". Signed on the plat...