1870s Prints and Multiples

"The New Steamship Cephalonia, of the Cunard Line" is an original hand-colored lithograph by Currier & Ives. It depicts a large sailing steamship. There is a significant stain in the artwork in the upper center. 12" x 16 3/4" art 21" x 26" frame 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...

Rue Du Canal à Figeac is an artwork realized by E.Mazas in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publis...

Mendiant Romain is an artwork realized by Soumy in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Alfred...

En Italie is an artwork realized by Giberto Borroméo in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher...

Old Battersea Bridge View, Chelsea, 1879 - Etching on Paper Black and white 1897 etching titled "Old Battersea Bridge View" by Charles John Watson (British, 1846-1947). View at Chelsea from the bank of the Thames, with boats moored in foreground at left, Old Battersea Bridge in background, and Chelsea Old Church beyond. Signed and dated "Charles J Watson...

Edouard MANET (after) The Harbour, Sailboats, 1873 Original Etching Engraved by Gaucherel under the supervision of MANET Printed signature in the plate On laid paper 20,5 x 30 cm (c. 8 x 12 in) INFORMATION : This etchings was edited in 1873 by Galerie Durand Ruel...

Vue de Monaco is an artwork realized by P. Borol in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Alf...

La Jouane is an artwork realized by Tancrède Abraham in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher...

Château de Neuvie is an artwork realized by Henri de Gourcy in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the pu...

Foret De Fontainebleau is an artwork realized by Pontus Cinier in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the p...

Nature Morte is an artwork realized by Z. Prevost in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Al...

Le Sacrifice Egyptien d'Une Vierge au Nil is an artwork realized by Federico Faruffini in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born ...

Environs de Metz is an artwork realized by Charles-André Malardot in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of ...

Dunnock is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 1870. Name ...

Signed the plate with the artist's monogram “TS”lower left. Inscription “C. Lovera imp” lower right. Very rare print from “L'Art in Italia”, 1871.Original Prints. Image Dimensions : ...

Rade De New-York is an artwork realized by Anatole De Bonsonge in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the p...

La chasse du Beau Pécopin is an artwork realized by Charles Amédée De Boret in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initia...

Presée is an artwork realized by F. Cifflart in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Alfred Ca...

El de la Rollona is a modern artwork realized by Francisco Goya and published as fourth edition in 1878 by the Calcografia Nacional. Black and white etching and burnished aquatint. ...

Marcantonio Raimondi, After by Amand Durand, Italian (1480 - 1534) - Apollon et Hyacinthe, Year: 1875, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 12.5 x 9.25 in. (31.75 x 23.5 cm), Printer: Aman...

La Promenade is an artwork realized by August Von Heyden in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publi...

Nature Morte is an artwork realized by Jules Chervier in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publishe...

Les Cigognes is an artwork realized by Félix Bracquemond in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publi...

Le Repas Des Enfants is an artwork realized by Edwards Davis in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the p...

Les Cantabres is an artwork realized by Francisco Lameyer y Berenguer in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative ...

La Fontaine du Pasturiau is an artwork realized by A.Matieu in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the pu...

Pardon de At. Gildas is an artwork realized by in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Alfred...

Femmes de l'Île de Batz Attendant la Chaloupe de Passage is an artwork realized in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the ...

Souvenir du Jura is an artwork realized by X.Dananche in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher ...

Michel Ange is an artwork realized by Edouard Moyse in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Al...

Le Val Clémence is an artwork realized by T.Abraham in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher ...

Les Remords is an artwork realized by B. Prevost in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Alf...

Chiens Verts is an artwork realized by Pontus Cinier in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher...

Chateau du Clos lucé à Amboise is an artwork realized by A. Queyroy in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative o...

Disparate furioso - from Los Proverbios is an original black and white etching realized by Francisco Goya (1746-1828). The artwork is the plate n. 6 from of the second edition of t...

White Owl is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by Londo...

Ring Ouzel is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 1870. N...

Edouard Manet, French, (1832-1883). GUERRE CIVILE (CIVIL WAR). Lithograph on chine colle, 1871-73. The second state of two. Printed and Published by Lermercier, Paris, 1874. 15 5/8 ...

Marcantonio Raimondi, After by Amand Durand, Italian (1480 - 1534) - La piece dite des cinq Saints, Year: 1875, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 17.5 x 11.75 in. (44.45 x 29.85 cm), Pr...

La Ravaudeuse de Cesson is a wonderful black and white etching on paper realized at the end of the XIX century by the French artist Paul Edmé Le Rat (1849-1892). Published by A. Cada...

Beautiful engraving of a late 19th Century painting by Frederic Arthur Bridgman (American, 1847 - 1928) titled "A Hot Bargain," (see image) engraved by James D. Smillie (American, 1833-1909), circa 1900. Signed lower right edge. Edition 64/225 with attribution to piece and artist on verso. Presented in with new mat. Original mat on verso. Condition: Good, minor foxing on edge. Image size: 5.88"H x 9"W. A native of New York and the son of an engraver, James David Smillie earned his early reputation for his etching skills but later for watercolor landscapes. He began etching at age 8, learning from his father, James Smillie...

Leaving Home is a superb etching and drypoint on ivory-colored and laid paper, realized by Edmond Ramus, after Franch Holl, as the inscription on plate and out of the image report. On the higher-margin "Exposition Universelle de 1878". Printed by A. Salmon, this original print represents a crowded waiting room before a departure, better represents all the feelings, thoughts, postures, lost hopes of a departure after leaving home. With deep dramatic and vibrant blacks, and intense greys, sophisticated draperies and deep shadows, this artwork although his intensity has something of deep humanity, and is incredibly modern! A touching original print for your sophisticated private collection. In good conditions, except for a usual burnished paper and a diffused foxing does not affect the image, also the edges. Edmond Ramus (1822 – 1890) was a French etcher best known for his copies of paintings...

Snowy Owl a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 1870. Name ...

Los Ensacados - from Los Proverbios is an original black and white etching realized by Francisco Goya (1746-1828). The artwork is the plate n. 8 from ...

The Fifer Etching, c. 1875 Unsigned Provenance: Estate of the Artist Bt descent in the artist's family Edition: One of four known impressions With annotation on...

Sword Fight is an original artwork realized in 1878 by Kunichika Toyohara. Color woodcut 1878. Dimensions: 22 x 48 cm. Actors portraits against red bac...

Wonderful etching and drypoint on ivory colored paper, representing a woman lying on a sofa. Signed and dated (1873) on plate on the lower left margin. Fourth and final state on four...

L'Horoscope is an original artwork realized by the artist Paul Edme LeRat and Felix-Augustin Milius. The artworks include two different sheets representing "L'Horoscope" by Paul Edme LeRat and "L'Horoscope Realisé" by Felix-Augustin Milius in 1879. Both the artworks has been realized in 1879. Original etchings d'aprés Freudenberger chez Cadart, Paris. Very good conditions. The first artwork represents an old female figure with cards and a young girl listening to her. In the center of the composition there is a man with a headgear that is listening to the response too. In the second etching, L'Horoscope Realisé, we see the realization of the response: the young girl stays with a baby and the old city is looking the scene; the man is in the center of the composition and shows the scene to the old lady. Paul Edme LeRat (Paris, 1849 - Paris, 1892) a French etcher noted for his interpretations of other artists paintings into etchings and engravings which were often used for book illustrations. He studied under Lecoq de Boisbaldran and L. Gaucherel and first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1869. Today many museums and libraries include his works in their catalogs. Félix-Augustin Milius(Marseilles, 1843 - 1894) a French painter, engraver and illustrator; he was a portraitist and genre scenes painter. A pupil of Hippolyte Flandrin, Charles Gleyre, Léon Gaucherel...

Raid On A Sand-Swallow Colony " How Many Eggs?" is an original wood engraving from Harper’s Weekly June 13, 1874 in very good condition. One of Am...

Ibis is a modern artwork realized in 1870. Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 1870. Name of the bird printed in plate. This work is part of a print sui...

Purple Martin is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917). Woodcut print on ivory-colored paper. Han...

A Lying Animal is a black and white print realized by Friedrich Specht in 1880. Lithograph on dark paper. Original Title: Derendet. Dated 1880, p.24. Signed by the artist on the r...

Capercaillie is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 1870. ...

Temminck's Stint is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 187...

Alaert du Hamel, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1450 - 1506) - Les Cavaliers Autour d'Une Chapelle (Emperor Heraclius entering Jerusalem...), Year: circa 1878, Medium: Heliogravure on...

Ibis is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917). Woodcut print on ivory-colored paper. Hand-colored, published by London, Bell &...

Hooded Crow is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by L...

Golden-Eye is a modern artwork realized in 1870 by the British artist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) . Woodcut print, hand colored, published by London, Bell & Sons, 1870. Na...