19th Century Prints and Multiples

Portrait of Two Actors is an original modern artwork realized by Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, active 1825–75) in 1857. Woodcut print oban format, 1857. Signature: Toyokuni ga. Censor...

Une Niit d'avril a Ceos, theatre program for a production with sets by Maurice Denis with advertisement for La Revue blanche, 1894. Lithograph. Ref:...

This lithograph in colors with raised chop mark was printed by Imprimerie Chaix in Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, 1899, on fine woven, heavy stock paper. Measures 15 ¾ x 11 3/8 (40 x 29 c...

100 Chrysanthemums Keika Hasegawa Kyoto, Japan Meji Era (ca. 1895) Japanese Woodblock Printed in Color with some Touching by Hand Keika Hasegawa was active from 1893-1905. His most famous work is 100 Chrysanthemums, a glorious celebration of Japan’s most famous flower. As the Imperial Seal...

Courtesan Kumekichi Color woodblock, 1858 Kabuki Actor Iwai Kumesaburo III in the role of courtesan Kumekichi, who is standing in snow hold a red sake cup Publisher: Ohkuniya Kinjiro...

Colour lithograph, 1890. 210mm by 285mm (sheet). From W Peck's 'A Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy', 1890. Sir William Peck FRSE FRAS (1862 – 1925) was a Scottish astronomer and scien...

Colour lithograph, 1890. 210mm by 285mm (sheet). From W Peck's 'A Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy', 1890. Sir William Peck FRSE FRAS (1862 – 1925) was a Scottish astronomer and scien...

Colour lithograph, 1890. 210mm by 285mm (sheet). From W Peck's 'A Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy', 1890. Sir William Peck FRSE FRAS (1862 – 1925) was a Scottish astronomer and scien...

100 Chrysanthemums Keika Hasegawa Kyoto, Japan Meji Era (ca. 1895) Japanese Woodblock Printed in Color with some Touching by Hand Keika Hasegawa was active from 1893-1905. His most famous work is 100 Chrysanthemums, a glorious celebration of Japan’s most famous flower. As the Imperial Seal...

Colour lithograph, 1890. 210mm by 285mm (sheet). From W Peck's 'A Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy', 1890. Sir William Peck FRSE FRAS (1862 – 1925) was a Scottish astronomer and scien...

Artist: Georges Henri Manesse (French, 1854-1940) Title: "La Reine Marie d'Angleterre (Queen Mary of England)" Portfolio: Gazette des Beaux-Arts Year: 1893 Medium: Original Etching on cream laid paper Limited edition: approx. 1,500 Printer: Chardon Wittman, Paris, France Publisher: Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France Reference: Sanchez/Seydoux 1893-7 Sheet size: 10.69" x 7.13" Image size: 7" x 5.25" Condition: Light discoloration at edges. It is otherwise a strong impression in excellent condition Notes: This etching is after a painting from 1554 by Dutch artist Anthonis Mor (c. 1517-1577). Comes with its original tissue cover sleeve. This etching was published by Gazette des Beaux-Arts. The Gazette des Beaux-Arts was a French art review, found in 1859 by Édouard Houssaye, with Charles Blanc as its first chief editor. Assia Visson Rubinstein was chief editor under the direction of George Wildenstein from 1928 until 1960. Her papers, which include all editions of the Gazette from this period, are intact at the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne in Dorigny. The Gazette was a world reference work on art history for nearly 100 years - one other editor in chief, from 1955 to 1987, was Jean Adhémar. It was bought in 1928 by the Wildenstein family, whose last representative was Daniel Wildenstein, its director from 1963 until his death in 2001. The review closed in 2002. Mary I...

L'enfant prodigue: en pays etranger (The Prodigal Son: In Foreign Climes) Etching, 1881 Unsigned (as usual for this state) From: L'enfant prodigue, (The Prodigal Son, five plates) Ed...

Artist: Pierre Augustin Massé (French, 1880-?) Title: "Portrait de Femme (Portrait of a Woman)" Portfolio: Gazette des Beaux-Arts Year: 1898 Medium: Or...

Artist: Toulouse Lautrec (1864 -1901) French Title: The Chestnut Vendor Medium: Lithograph, Year: 1897 Signature: Signed in Plate (TL) Lower Left Dimensions: 20” x 17” Framed, 11” x 8.5” Unframed A lithograph of a Toulouse Lautrec drawing...

Niccolò Schiavonetti (1771 Bassano del Grappa, Italien - 1813 London) after Guercino: Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591 Cento/Ferrara - 1666 Bologna), Jacob beholds Joseph's bloody r...

The Rest on the Flight into Egypt is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized after Rembrandt by Charles Amand Durand (1831-1905) after an etching by Rembrandt. This wonderful pi...

19th Century chromolithograph, 1885 A Thames Barbell

Self-Portrait, Frowning is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized by Charles Amand Durand (1831-1905) after an etching by Rembrandt. This piece of art belongs to a late edition...

'Agaricus Ovoideus' Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. The print is titled with the scientific name...

100 Chrysanthemums Keika Hasegawa Kyoto, Japan Meji Era (ca. 1895) Japanese Woodblock Printed in Color with some Touching by Hand Paper Size: 8.25” x 12.25” 8.25” x 24.5” ...

Théodore Géricault 'Le maréchal flamand' (The Flemish Blacksmith) from the series ‘Etudes, de chevaux lithographiés,’ lithograph, 1822, 2nd state ...

'Agaricus Mappa' (False death cap ) Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. The print is titled with the scientific name below t...

Heliogravure on light weight Japan paper, full margins. Titled in pencil in the lower right margin. In good condition with some minor handling creases, dog-eared lower right corner, ...

Antique print after painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) portraying Lady Elizabeth Anne Burrell, Marchioness of Exeter. Sir Thomas Lawrence was a fashionable portrait painter ...

The present hand-colored lithograph was produced as part of the funeral and mourning culture in the United States during the 19th century. Images like this were popular as ways of remembering loved ones, an alternative to portraiture of the deceased. This lithograph shows a man, woman and child in morning clothes next to an urn-topped stone monument. Behind are additional putto-topped headstones beneath weeping willows, with a steepled church beyond. The monument contains a space where a family could inscribe the name and death dates of a deceased loved one. In this case, it has been inscribed to a young Civil War soldier: William W. Peabody Died at Fairfax Seminary, VA December 18th, 1864 Aged 18 years The young Mr. Peabody probably died in service for the Union during the American Civil War. Farifax Seminary was a Union hospital and military headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The hospital served nearly two thousand soldiers during the war time. Five hundred were also buried on the Seminary's grounds. 13.75 x 9.5 inches, artwork 23 x 19 inches, frame Published before 1864 Inscribed bottom center "Lith. & Pub. by N. Currier. 2 Spruce St. N.Y." Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and TruVue Conservation Clear glass, 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...

Fables is an original modern rare book Jean de La Fontaine (Château-Thierry, 1621 – Paris, 1695) and illustrated by Gustave Doré (Strasbourg, 1832 – 23 January 1883) in 1868. Publi...

Forellenweiher is a wonderful black and white etching and drypoint on wide rod cream paper realized by Franz von Stuck in 1890-1891. Hand signed in gr...

Takeda Daizendayu Harunobu (Nyudo Shingen) Crouching in a Field Color woodcut, 1878 Signed: Oju Yoshitoshi hitsu; Seal: Taiso (See photo) From the series: "A Mirror of Famous General...

Les Contes Drolatiques is an original modern rare book written by Honoré de Balzac (1799 – 1850) and illustrated by Gustave Doré (Strasbourg, 1832 – 23 January 1883) in 1861. Publis...

"The Poet" is an original etching on paper, realized by Léopold Flameng. The state of preservation of the artwork is very good. Signed on the plate. The artwork represents beautiful poets in a tavern, the etching technique is used. Léopold Flameng (1831 - 1911): Léopold F. was a French engraver, illustrator and painter. He was born of French parents. He was a medallist at the Exposition Universelle (1878) and was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1898 . Known for his etchings of works by Jan van Eyck , Leonardo da Vinci , Rembrandt , Ingres and Delacroix , he illustrated several books on Paris and numerous literary works of classical and contemporary authors, including Boccaccio , Paul Scarron , Victor Hugo and François Coppée . He had numerous students, including his son, François Flameng...

This early 19th century framed 35" x 31" engraving by artist Amand-Durand depcits an etching of 'Jesus and the Woman at the Well,' after the Dutch master, Rembrandt van Rijn. This poignant Biblical story is depicted by Arman-Durand in Rembrandt style...

Art Sz: 10 5/8"H x 13 1/8" Frame Sz: 17 5/8"H x 20"W In eglomise mat Engraved by C.R. Stock

'Agaricus Arvensis' Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. The print is titled with the scientific name...

Published by F. Champenois, Paris. "Bénédictine shows two girls pressing flowers amid book leaves, to remind us of the herbs that go into making the liqueur; the bottom part of the poster has a panorama of the Fecamp Abbey where the drink originated. Around 1510, one of the monks, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, prepared a liqueur using local wine and native herbs found in nearby woods, together with a few imported ingredients including muscat, ginger, clove and cardamom" (Wine Spectator, 70). As with all poster this size, the lithograph was made, in color, on two panels and joined at the center. Alphonse Mucha was a painter and decorative artist best known for the sensual Art...

Drypoint etching on watermarked cream wove paper, 5 7/16 x 8 7/16 inches (39 x 215 mm), wide (perhaps full) margins. A very desirable, bright and richly inked impression, with the da...

'Agaricus Vaginatus' (grisette or the grisette amanita) Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. The print is titled with the sci...

Very nice theater poster by Albert Morrow for the play "Lord and Lady Algy". Created on the London stage in 1898, Lord and Lady Algy was later made into an American silent film of the same name. The plot revolves around a married couple...

Signed: Keisai Eisen ga; Seal: Kiwame Series: Contemporary Scenes in the Pleasure Quarters Publisher: Wakasaya Yoichi Note: This is a famous ...

A Society of Distinguished Painters, Who Hunt with Fox Hounds, Live Splendidly and Only Paint at Night Aquatint w/ Hand-coloring on wove paper Print Sz: 12 1/4"H x 15 3/4"W Frame...

Guitar Player is an original print, realized in 1861 by the French artist François Bonvin. Black and white etching on paper. The artwork is attached o...

'1 Hydnum Coralloides 2 Hydnum Erinaceus' (Coral Tooth Fungus and Lion mane's mushroom) Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. ...

Kabuki is an original artwork realized in 1864 by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Breast portrait of the actor Sawamura Toshi in front of a dark blue background, he's wearing a lion dance costume. In the inset portrait of Kataoka Nizaemon with a feather costume. Signed: Oshio Toyokuni ga (77 Toyokuni). Publisher: Ebiya Rinnosuke in Horie. Censorship: Aratame. Wood engraver: Matsushima Masakichi. Excellent impression with visible wood grain and baren print lines...

'1-7 Geaster Hygrometricus 8-14 Bovista Nigrescens' Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. The print is titled with the scient...

Anonymous (19th century) Eton College Courtyard Lithograph 29 x 38 cm Mounted to board.

GREGORY AMENOFF El Santuario de Chimayó, 1986 Lithograph in Colors on wove paper 37 × 38 inches Edition 1/40 Hand Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in pencil 1 from the edition of only 40 lower margin front Unframed A stunning richly colored lithograph by this important artist...

Kabukie is an original artwork realized in 1857 by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). An actor in the role of the Bunraku puppeteer Izutsu Kumenosuke stands in front of a Tsuitate parti...

Kollwitz, Kathe. BETENDES MADCHEN. Klipstein 11, Knesebecke 14. Softground, drypoint and aquatint, 1892. The third state of four, with "Original Rad von Kathe Kollwitz" in the plate,...

Otomi Watches the Thief Yosaburo is an original modern artwork realized by Utagawa Kunisada in 1860. Woodcut print oban diptych format from a tryptich. Signature Toyokuni ga. Publisher: Maruya Jimpachi. Censored by Aratame. Otomi watches as the thief Yosaburo, who holds a kitchen knife...

Ex Libris Alapit is an original woodcut realized in 1838. Original B/W woodcut on ivory-colored paper. Dated on plate on the lower margin: 1838. The work is glued on cardboard. To...

Félix Vallotton (Swiss, 1865 - 1925) L’Exécution • Wood cut print • Loose Japan paper sheet, 25 x 37 cm • Block, ca. 15 x 25 cm • Monogrammed in the ...

Knight is an original artwork realized by Frédérique Émilie Auguste O'Connell (1822 -1885) . Etching print. Hand-signed and dated on the lower right. Passpartout cm 70x50,5 Good co...

BRADLEY, WILL (1868 - 1962) The Chap Book Original lithograph from “Les Maitres de L’Affiche” series Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris Bearing MDL stamp lower right, from issue #34, 1898. Plate #136 Unframed Size: 11 3/8 x 15 3/4” The “Les Maitres de l’Affiche” series was offered as a subscription series to collectors every month for 60 months, from December 1895 through November 1900. The “Maitres de l’Affiche,” were issued as separate numbered sheets, referred to as “plates”. They were numbered, with the printers name “Imprimerie Chaix,” in the margin at the bottom left hand corner, “PL.1” to “PL.240.” In the margin at the bottom right hand corner of each, is a blind embossed stamp from a design of Cheret’s. The smaller format and the fact the “Maitres” were a paid subscription series, allowed Imprimerie Chaix to use the latest state of the art printing techniques, not normally used in the large format posters...

Kono Bairei (1844 – 1895) Kacho-ga. (Birds and Flowers) Japan, c1880 Partridge Print. Okura Magobei, Publisher. The enthusiasm for nature prints transcends the centuries. “One Hundred Flowers” is a mid-nineteenth century work illustrating varieties of flowers in naturalistic styles. Traditional woodblock printing enhances the beauty of each work. The artist must carve different woodblocks for every color he wishes to transfer to paper. In this style of printing it is imperative that the register of each woodblock be exact as they must match perfectly to create an image without blurring. In addition to his illustrated flower books...

'Agaricus Phalloides' (Death Cap) Antique Swiss mushroom / fungi chromolithograph, lithographed by H Furrer after Fritz Leuba. The print is titled with the scientific name below the...

Jacob Haaringh "'Young Haaringh" is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized after an etching by Rembrandt dated 1655. This wonderful piece of art belongs to an edition of the la...

Théophile Pierre Wagner, 'Vague Lumineuse' (Luminescent Wave), lithograph, edition not stated but small, c. 1895. Signed and titled in pencil. Initialed in the stone, lower left. A f...

Le Matin (Morning) Mezzotint, 1886 Signed and dated in the plate (see photos) Edition: at least 650 impressions in both states Reference: Wentworth 82 ii/II P...

The Great Jewish Bride is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized by Charles Amand Durand after an etching by Rembrandt dated 1635. This wonderful pi...