1850s Art

Tête D'Arme, or or how the British Generals stormed the Great Redan is an original lithography artwork on paper realized in 1855 after Touchstone by Ch...

"Woman Figure" is an original pencil drawing on paper realized by Edmound De Beaumont in 1853. Hand-signed on the rear. Good conditions. The drawing represents a woman in victorian costume...

Oriental Crying Woman is a hand-colored lithograph on paper realized in 1856 ca. by an unknown artist of the XIX century. Titled on the lower center in Italian" Una donna che piange...

This splendid lithograph Interieur de Geneve. Fontaine de l'Hotel De Ville is part of the series of 20 prints dedicated to views of the city of Geneva, engraved by the Italian artist...

This splendid lithograph Interieur de Geneve. Place de la Grenette is part of the series of 20 prints dedicated to views of the city of Geneva, engraved by the Italian artist Antonio...

"Woman Figure" 1853's is a drawing on paper, signed and dated by Edmond De Beaumont, on the back of the drawing. In excellent conditions: as good as new...

The Girl is an interesting preparatory sketch in pencil realized by the French artist Michel Dumas in the mid-19th century. The state of preservation is good, except for some stains and foldings. stamped by the name of Artist...

Gene is a beautiful original lithograph realized by Eugène Flandin (1809-1889) in 1850 ca. Signed on the plate by the artist on the lower left margin, lithographed by Jules Collign...

Siege de Rome is an original lithograph on paper realized by A. Raffet. Titled San Donato Février in 1850. Signed on the plate on the lower right. Sheet dime...

Buffalo Skull is an original lithography artwork on ivory paper realized by Carlo Coleman (1807-1874) in 1850. Signed on the plate and dated. Image dime...

This splendid lithograph View of Geneve is part of the series of prints dedicated to views of the city of Geneva, engraved by the Italian artist Antonio Fontanesi. The state of pres...

Roman Statue is an original etching on paper realized by an Anonymous artist of the XIX century in 1850 ca. In very good condition. Included a white...

Image dimensions: 20.5 x 15 cm. This splendid lithograph Interieur de Geneve. Rue De L'Hôtel De Ville is part of the series of 20 prints dedicated to views of the city of Geneva, en...

"Monorganorama" are five original lithograph plates, realized by Alfred Grevin in 1858. Included a frame for each of the prints. In very good conditions except some foxing on one. ...

Charles Meryon (1821-1868), La Tour de L’Horloge (The Clock Tower, Paris), 1852, etching with engraving. Reference: Schneiderman 23, Delteil 28. Third state (of 10). On very thin Jap...

"The Rag Gatherers" is an original etching on zinc plate by J. A. M. Whistler. The artist signed and dated the piece in the plate. It features a scene...

Signed “Ichimosai Yoshitora ga” and “Ittosai Toshitsuna ga” and dated “Kaei 5” (1851). No Editor. Including 50+1 original illustrations, 39 of which by Yoshitora and 11 of which by Yoshitsuna. Author : Shotei Kinsui Illustrator : Utagawa Yoshitora...

Meryon, Charles. LE PONT AU CHANGE. S.40(v), DW.34. Etching with drypoint, 1854. Fifth State of twelve, with the inscriptions in cursive, "C. Meryon del. sculp. mdcccliiii," lower l...

A beautifully painted oil on canvas of a flower vendor. Signed illegibly upper right corner. Framed in an ornate ebonized and gilded frame.

"Skating at Boston" is an original woodcut print by Winslow Homer. It depicts a large number of figures figure skating with Boston in the background. 9...

James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Unsafe Tenement, etching, 1858. [signed in the plate lower right]. References: Kennedy 17. Glasgow 18, fourth state (of four). In very good condition, printed on a very thin (two ply?) Japan paper, with margins, 6 1/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 8 1/4 x 11, archival mounting. A brilliant, black impression printed with astonishing clarity and exquisite detailing, on an ivory Japan paper. Presumably this is a proof impression before the relatively large edition published in this state (the edition was not on this paper). Provenance: Inscribed “To Otto J. Schneider from his friend Frederick Keppel”. Schneider (1875-1946) was an American artist, noted for his realism, influenced by Whistler. Keppel was of course the well-known American dealer, one of whose specialties was Whistler prints. Keppel had a good relationship with Whistler until, as in most of his relationships, Whistler became inordinately troublesome – at which point Keppel wrote Whistler a longish, mocking poem, with lines such as these: “Like cackling hens or cocks a-crowing Your tireless trumpet keeps a-blowing. ” After this, Keppel wrote “at this point all my intercourse with this extraordinary man came to an end.” (In the lower right is the ghost of another inscription, now erased, apparently to another friend from Edna (?) Schneider who presumably owned this print after Otto Schneider...

Jean-Francois Millet, French (1814 - 1875) - Portrait d'Olivier de Serres, Year: 1858, Medium: Lithograph, Image Size: 5 x 3.25 inches, Size: 9.5 x 6.25 in...

This exquisite, mammoth albumen print of the now-dammed Dalles on the Columbia River is one of Watkins' finest images. This particular print was likely made in the 1880s by Isaiah Ta...

The present hand-colored lithograph is an excellent example of patriotic mid-nineteenth century American imagery. The print shows the battle and several of the major figures involved in the Battle of Lake Erie: At the center is a view of several frigates on the lake, embroiled in conflict. Above the battle is the quotation: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." Surrounding are laurel-lined roundels with portraits of Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819), Stephen Dicateur (1779-1820), Johnston Blakeley (1871-1814), William Bainbridge (1774-1833), David Porter (1780-1843), and James Lawrence (1781-1813) - all of these framed by American flags, banners and cannons. This print shows that the Battle of Lake Erie, part of the War of 1812, still held resonance for American audiences several decades later and was part of the larger narrative of the founding of the country. 9.5 x 13.5 inches, artwork 20 x 23.38 inches, frame Entitled in the image Signed in the stone, lower left "Lith. and Pub. by N. Currier" Inscribed lower right "2 Spruce N.Y." and "No. 1" Copyrighted lower center "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1846 by N. Currier in the Clerk's office of the Southern District of N.Y." Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and housed in a gold gilded 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...

This early albumen silver print from an imperial plate was printed prior to 1876, when it was included in an album compiled at the Centennial Expositio...

Sir Francis Seymour Haden (1818-1910), Kensington Gardens (The Small Plate), drypoint, 1859, signed in pencil lower right. References: Harrington 12...

In the world of cartography, maps transcend mere geography; they are historical records and works of art, encapsulating the essence of a place at a specific moment in time. The 1851 ...

In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States government set out to survey and document its newly acquired lands and territories west of the Mississippi. The goals of these surveys were manifold: to produce topographical maps, to document flora and fauna, and to document natural resources to build the emerging US economy. These surveys, and the images from them, also functioned to build the new sense of American identity with the landscape, condensing vistas into the 'picturesque' tradition of European image making. Thus, the entire span of US territory could be seen as a single, cohesive whole. This lithograph comes from one of six surveys commissioned by the Army's Topographic Bureau in 1853, which sought to find the best route to construct a transcontinental railroad. The result was a thirteen-volume report including maps, lithographs, and technical data entitled 'Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a Railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean.' In particular, the print comes from the northern survey, commanded by Isaac Stevens, which explored the regions between the 47th and 49th parallels. In this image, Stanley shows an encampment of the people known as the Red River of the North hunters. They were generations of European and mixed-race trappers who lived on the frontier and had Indian wives and mixed-race children. They had come to the area for bison hunting, as the herds were still vast on the prairies. In the image, the figures and their encampment are dwarfed by the vast landscape around them, indicating the sublimity of these new American territories. 5.75 x 8.75 inches, image 6.5 x 9.25 inches, stone 17 x 20 inches, frame Artist 'Stanley Del.' lower left Entitled 'Camp Red River Hunters' lower center margin Publisher 'Sarony, Major & Knapp. Lith.s 449 Broadway N.Y.' lower right Inscribed 'U.S.P.R.R. EXP. & SURVEYS — 47th & 49th PARALLELS' upper left Inscribed 'GENERAL REPORT — PLATE XII' upper right Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting with French accents; glazed with UV5 Plexiglas to inhibit fading; housed in a gold reverse ogee moulding. Print in overall good condition; some localized foxing and discoloration; minor surface abrasions to frame. John Mix Stanley...

This vintage salt print is titled, attributed and annotated in lithographic ink on the front of the mount. Printed 1850s.

This vintage salt print is titled, attributed and annotated in lithographic ink on the front of the mount.

"Camanche Inscription on the Shoulder Blade of a Buffalo" is a lithograph after an original drawing by Seth Eastman. It depicts Native American inscriptions on an animal bone. It was...

This vintage salt print is titled, attributed and annotated in lithographic ink on the front of the mount. Printed 1850s.

To see more, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller." Silhouette (circa 1870) Lennox Gouache, pen, and ink 52 x 44 cm Prior to phot...

To see more, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller." Silhouette (circa 1870) Miss Chapman Gouache, pen, and ink 52 x 44 cm One of ...

Wolverhampton School of Practical Art Original artwork for engraving published for London Illustrated News (25 June 1853) 17.5x29cm Watercolour

Pierre Jules Mene (1810-1879). Original cast circa 1850 Chien épagneul-griffon attrapant un canard (Spaniel-Griffon canine capturing a duck). Exceptional and large bronze grouping ...

Paul Gavarni (1804-1866) La Soubrette (The handmaid), pencil, watercolor and heightenings of gouache on paper Signed lower right (faded) 20 x 15 cm In quite good condition, lightly sunstroke and yellowed Framed 28.5 x 23 cm Paul Gavarni was the nom de plume of Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (13 January 1804 – 24 November 1866), a French illustrator, born in Paris. The story is told that he took his name from Gavarnie in Luz-Saint-Sauveur where he had taken a journey into the Pyrenees. He was a very famous illustrator, friend of Felix Nadar...

American 1870s Hudson River Antique Gilt Frame Antique Painting Frame Frame Size: Width: 22″ X Height: 25″ Thickness: 3.50″ Picture Size: Wi...

Oil on canvas c.1855 - 1860 Image size: 19 x 14 inches (48.25 x 37.25 cm) Original Watts frame The Sitter Herbert William Fisher (1826 - 1903) was a British historian, best known for his 'Considerations on the Origin of the American War' (1865). Fisher was tutor to the future King Edward VII, and served as Private Secretary to the 5th Duke of Newcastle. in 1863 he became Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, his former pupil, before being appointed to the position of Vice-Warden of the Stannaries in 1870. One of his daughters, Adeline, married Ralph Vaughan Williams. George Frederick Watts Watts (1817 - 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He is known to have said 'I paint ideas, not things'. Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical works, such as 'Hope' and 'Love and Life' in which the emotions and aspiration life were intended to be represented in a universal symbolic language. Watts was born in Marylebone in central London on the birthday of George Frederic Handel (after whom he was named), to the second wife of a poor piano-maker. He showed artistic promise very early, learning sculpture from the age of 10 with William Behnes, starting to study devotedly the Elgin Marbles (later writing "It was from them alone that I learned") and then enrolling as a student at the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 18. He first exhibited at the Academy in 1837, with a picture of "The Wounded Heron" and two portraits, but his attendance at the Academy was short-lived, and his further art education was confined to personal experiment and endeavour, guided by a constant appeal to the standard of ancient Greek sculpture. He also began his portraiture career, receiving patronage from his close contemporary Alexander Constantine Ionides, who later came to be a close friend. In 1849 the first two of the allegorical compositions which form the most characteristic of the artist's productions were exhibited—"Life's Illusions," an elaborate presentment of the vanity of human desires, and "The people that sat in darkness," turning eagerly towards the growing dawn. In 1850 he first gave public expression to his intense longing to improve the condition of humanity in the picture of "The Good Samaritan" bending over the wounded traveller; this, as recorded in the catalogue of the Royal Academy, was "painted as an expression of the artist's admiration and respect for the noble philanthropy of Thomas Wright, of Manchester," and to that city he presented the work. From the late 1840s onward he painted many portraits in France and England, some of which are described below. Notable pictures of the same period are “Sir Galahad...

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Oursikoff, lithograph, from Actualities, Plate number 72, published in Charivari, 1854. Reference: Daumier Register 2519, second state of two, a newsprint...

Framed in wood with museum glass to 9" x 11" One of the watercolors says Tweksbury, July (?) 1850 Framed by Commonwealth Print Conservation, Boston in 1988 Very nice watercolor. Par...

Edwin Long 1829 - 1891 Portrait Studies Graphite on paper Image size: 4 x 8 inches (10 x 20.5 cm) Framed Edwin Longsden Long RA (1829-1891, British) wa...

This vintage salt print is titled, attributed and annotated in lithographic ink on the front of the mount. Printed 1850s.

Watercolour depicting a castle tower signed & dated 1859 in a French mat & gilt frame Art Sz: 17"H x 12 3/8"W Frame Sz: 27 7/8"H x 23 3/8"W

Print Sz: 11 1/2"H x 15"W Frame Sz: 17 1/4"H x 20 1/2"W Composed and drawn on stone by A. Fay Stylish gentlemen's private club interior scene featuring a grand bar c.1854

Car-Travelling In The South Of Ireland In The Year 1856. Bianconi's Establishment Print Sz: 10 7/8"H x 14"W Frame Sz: 19"H x 23"W Published 1856 by Ackermann & Co Engraver: John...

Edmund Darch Lewis (1835-1910) Mount Washington, New Hampshire 50 x 58 inches, signed & dated 1859 Description The area near Mount Washington in New Hampshire was visited by many ...

Watercolour with bodycolour on card Titled 'Donn d'Albano' lower left and signed and inscribed 'Roma 1853' lower right Image size: 19 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches (50 x 34 cm) This is a full...

John William Hill (1812-1879) "Boston" 1857 Hand-Colored Engraving Site Size: 29 x 41 inches Framed Size: 39 x 52 inches Born in London, England, John William Hill came to America with his family at age 7. His father, John Hill, was a well-known landscape painter, engraver, and aquatintist. John William had a career of two phases, a city topographer-engraver and then, the leading pre-Rafaelite school painter in this country. Employed by the New York Geological Survey and then by Smith Brothers...