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19th Century Prints and Multiples

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Period: 19th Century
Greek Theatre - Lithograph - 1862
Located in Roma, IT
Greek Theatre is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the government, of the la...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Retriever Crossed with a Setter
Located in Columbia, MO
Retriever Crossed with a Setter 1887 Etching 3 x 5
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

The Lady Dunlin With Her Hand Fan - Original Lithograph by J.J Grandville - 1852
Located in Roma, IT
The Lady Dunlin With Her Hand Fan is an original lithographs on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Published ...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

1896 original lithography by Armand Rassenfosse Salon des cent
Located in PARIS, FR
In the heart of 19th-century Paris, the art scene flourished with an unparalleled vibrancy, attracting connoisseurs and creators from around the globe. One pivotal event that capture...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph, Paper

Diseases of the Ovary - Lithograph By Ottavio Muzzi - 1843
Located in Roma, IT
Diseases of the Ovary is a lithograph hand colored by Ottavio Muzzi for the edition of Antoine Chazal, Human Anatomy, Printers Batelli and Ridolfi, 1843. The work belongs to the Atl...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Woman at the Tub (Femme au tub)
Located in Bournemouth, Dorset
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) Woman at the Tub (Femme au tub) lithograph, 213/275, signed in print Image: 48.5 x 62.5 cm Frame: 69.5 x 81.5 cm Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1...
Category

Realist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

The Nile - Chromolithograph after Karl Werner - 1881
Located in Roma, IT
The Nile is a modern artwork realized d'apres Karl Werner  Mixed colored Chromolithograph.  The artwork is after the watercolors realized by the artist during a trip to Egypt betwe...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Japanese Accessories - Woodcut after Utagawa Kunisada - Late-19th century
Located in Roma, IT
Japanese Accessories is a Woodcut print realized in the first half of the 19th century by Utagawa Kunisada. Good condition. This wonderful modern artwork represents Japanese acce...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

Le Roi Peste (The Plague Kings) - Etching by James Ensor - 1895
Located in Roma, IT
The Plague Kings is an original etching on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1895, signed on the plate and dated, unique state, with the second signature on the reverse ...
Category

Surrealist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

La Source dans les Bois - Lithograph by Henri Fantin-Latour - 1898
Located in Roma, IT
Autographie (Calcography on paper transfer and Lithograph). Beautiful Proof in sanguine on China paper. In Excellent conditions and full margins. Ref. Cat. Hédiart-Mason n.139; Jo...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Snipe - Mixed Colored Woodcut Print - 1870
Located in Roma, IT
Snipe 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 su...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

C’est peut-être bon… - Lithograph by H. Daumier - 1856
Located in Roma, IT
C’est peut-être bon… is a original b/w lithograph (plate n.9), from the satirical series Les Hippophages, composed of 10 plates of caricatures “de mœurs” (of behaviours), realized by...
Category

19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Grizzly Bear
Located in New York, NY
Original stone lithograph with hand-coloring from "The Quadrupeds of North America. Octavo Edition" by John James Audubon. Plate CXXXI. Philadelphia, J.T. Bowen, ca. 1856. Excellent ...
Category

19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper

Veduta Generale del Tempio della Sibilla... - by L. Rossini - 1824
Located in Roma, IT
Veduta Generale del Tempio della Sibilla, e Ponte della Cascata di Tivoli Image dimensions: 61x45 cm. From the series “Le antichità de’ contorni di Roma (...)” an artist's proof with...
Category

Old Masters 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

The Pig - Original Lithograph on Paper - 1880 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
The Pig is an original Modern artwork realized by an anonymous artist in 1880 ca. Original lithograph on Paper. Good Conditions. Passepartout: 34 x 49 The artwork represents a Pi...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Actor Iwai Hanshiro as a Samurai by Utagawa Toyokuni I - Early 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Actor Iwai Hanshiro as a Samurai is an artwork realized by Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825), in the early 19th Century Color woodcut, signed or inscribed in the top right and bottom lef...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

French Fabric Design - Etoffe Venitie, antique French chromolithograph print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Les Arts Décoratifs - Etoffe Vénitienne' Depicts Venetian fabric from the 16th century. From 'Les Arts Decoratifs a toutes les epoques', printed by ...
Category

Victorian 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Eulophia Virens, antique orchid botanical lithograph print, 1866
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Eulophia Virens – Greenish Eulophia' Orchid lithograph with original hand-colouring , 1866, by Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892). Native orchid of Sri Lanka a...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Portrait of Adolph Menzel - Etching by Giovanni Boldini - 1897
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait of Adolph Menzel is a magnificent drypoint realized by Giovanni Boldini in 1897. Reference: Buzzoni / M. Toffanello, Museo Giovanni Boldini, G...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

1896 original poster by Armand Rassenfosse Salon des cent
Located in PARIS, FR
In the heart of 19th-century Paris, the art scene flourished with an unparalleled vibrancy, attracting connoisseurs and creators from around the globe. One pivotal event that capture...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Lithograph, Linen

Pisces-The Fish
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Pisces From: Les Douze Mois de 1889 As published in Vol. 9, No. 425 of Les Hommes d'Aujourd'hui. Published by Sagot, Paris Proof before letters without the calendarium as published ...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

1897 Unknown 'R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company'
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Paper Size: 11.5 x 8.25 inches ( 29.21 x 20.955 cm ) Image Size: 8.25 x 5 inches ( 20.955 x 12.7 cm ) Framed: No Condition: A: Mint Additional Details: First printing Lithogra...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

"Grizzly Bear", an Original 19th C. Audubon Hand Colored Quadruped Lithograph
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original John James Audubon hand-colored royal octavo lithograph entitled "Grizzly Bear", No. 27, Plate CXXXI from Audubon's "Quadrupeds of North America". It was drawn on...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Wakana (Gengjie) - Original Woodcut Print by Utagawa Kunisada - 1850s
Located in Roma, IT
Wakana (Gengjie) is an original modern artwork realized by Utagawa Kunisada in 1850s. Woodcut print Oban yokoe format From the series "Sono sugata yukari no utsushie" (Faithful im...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

BROOKSHAW. A Pair of Melons: White Seed'd Rock and Silver Rock Mellon
Located in London, GB
Pair of aquatints with stipple-engraving, printed in colours and finished by hand, made for Brookshaw's most famous work "Pomona Britannica" or a "Collection of the Most Esteemed Fru...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Engraving, Handmade Paper, Aquatint

Original etchings C. Bernier - International monument of the reformation, Geneva
Located in Geneva, CH
This is an original etching representing an important monument in Geneva during the 19th century. The work is sold framed. Total size with the frame 34x31 cm. Signed C. Bernier
Category

Realist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

Mr. Bunny Eating A Big Carrot - Lithograph by J.J Grandville - 1852
Located in Roma, IT
Mr. Bunny Eating A Big Carrot 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 Ma...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Electricity by Ignatius Taschner, Art Nouveau lithograph, 1897
Located in Chicago, IL
Lithograph of Ignatius Taschner’s Electricity, published as Plate 95 in Gerlach’s Allegorien by Gerlach & Schenk, Vienna. This artwork arrives accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Allegorien-Neue Folge...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Liber Veritatis - Original B/W Etching after Claude Lorrain - 1815
Located in Roma, IT
Image dimensions: 21 x 27 cm. Liber Veritatis - Plate 190 is a beautiful black and white etching and aquatint on paper realized by the Italian artist Ludovico Caracciolo, after Clau...
Category

Old Masters 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

River in Normandy - Original etching - Ed. Durand Ruel, 1873
By Alfred Sisley
Located in Paris, IDF
Alfred SISLEY (after) The Angelus, 1873 Original Etching Engraved by Flameng under the supervision of SISLEY Printed signature in the plate On laid paper...
Category

Impressionist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

Ancient Ships - Lithograph - 1862
Located in Roma, IT
Ancient Ships is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the government, of the la...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Imperia (Caprices of Verlaine) - Original Lithograph 1899
Located in Paris, IDF
Alfred Pierre AGACHE (1843-1915) Imperia (Caprices of Verlaine), 1899 Original lithograph (Champenois workshop) Printed signature in the plate On vellum, 40 x 31 cm (c. 16 x 12 in) ...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Panicum sanguinale, from "Flora Londinensis..."
Located in Houston, TX
Antique hand colored engraving of grass or Panicum Sanguinale by W.Curtis, circa 1820. Artwork was intended to be actual size of specimen. Original artwork on paper displayed on a w...
Category

19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Engraving, Watercolor, Archival Paper

French architecture house design lithograph, late 19th century, c1870
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Chromolithograph from 'Constructions Modernes & Economiques', a French folio of architectural designs, published by Monrocq in Paris. 320mm by 250mm (sheet)
Category

Renaissance 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Moonlight Glade (small private burial ground in New England)
By William Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
"Moonlight Glade", a small intimate etching of a New England graveyard, is a remembrance of the artist's roots. There is a quiet reverent calm to this moonlit scene,. William Woodward, born in Seekonk, Massachusetts, received his art training at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Massachusetts Normal Art School. He taught at the Rhode Island School of Design while still a student there. At the behest of William Preston...
Category

American Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

1897 After Emile Berchmans 'L'Art Independant'
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Paper Size: 11.5 x 8.25 inches ( 29.21 x 20.955 cm ) Image Size: 7.75 x 6 inches ( 19.685 x 15.24 cm ) Framed: No Condition: A: Mint Additional Details: First printing Lithogr...
Category

Art Deco 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Venus zeigt Amor Psyche - Etching by Max Klinger - 1880
Located in Roma, IT
Etching and aquatint realized in 1880, belonging to the Series "Amor und Psyche", Opus V. Ref. Singer 67, IV. Excellent condition.
Category

Symbolist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

Astronomy, Plate 120 from Gerlach's Allegorien, Vienna Secession lithograph
By Hanus Schwaiger
Located in Chicago, IL
Allegorien-Neue Folge was a serialized publication of artworks by a group of Viennese artists and students beginning in 1897. Martin Gerlach, its publisher, was inspired by the new rise of modernist design in Vienna and selected those who were demonstrating a new command of the style to contribute works to the series, including Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Carl Otto Czeschka, and Hanus Schwaiger. Each plate explores a different theme or collection of topics, such as dance, astronomy, electricity, and graphic arts, which brought a new aesthetic of design to the traditional allegory genre. Stone lithograph of Hanus Schwaiger’s Astronomie, published as Plate 102 in Gerlach’s Allegorien...
Category

Vienna Secession 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

La Rentree de Pierrot - Etching by Leon Marie Constant Dansaert - 1860s
Located in Roma, IT
La rentree de Pierrot is a black and White etching realized by Leon Marie Constant Dansaert in 1863.  Titled in the lower Image Size: 32x23 Very good impression. Ref. - Maxime L...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

Two Botanical Lithographs, Flora Of America
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
Étienne DENISSE (1785-1861) Gombeau Edible and Trompette. Collection of the most remarkable Flowers and Fruits, natural size. Two lithographs enhanced with watercolor. Around 1830. F...
Category

19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

St Albans Cathedral (1810), engraving by James Basire
Located in London, GB
James Basire & John Carter Floor plan of St Albans Cathedral Engraving 61 x 95 cm This engraving was originally published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, an organisation ...
Category

Realist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Engraving

THE SMITH’S YARD
Located in Santa Monica, CA
JAMES ABBOTT MCNEIL WHISTLER (1834 – 1903) THE SMITH’S YARD 1895 (Spink, Stratis & Tedeschi 124) lithograph, 1895, on wove paper, from the edition of 3000, published by The Inter...
Category

Impressionist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Marsh Tern and White Tern, antique sea bird chromolithograph print, 1889
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Marsh Tern and White Tern' Chromolithograph from Gracius Broinowski's 'The Birds of Australia' , 1887-1891. Gracius Joseph Broinowski (1837-1913)...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Inari Kozo Tasaburo- Kabuki
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Inari Kozo Tasaburo- Kabuki Color woodcut, c. 1820 Signed: ‘Toyokuni’ Publisher: ‘Yamamoto Heikichi’ Censor: Hama and Magome Very good impression and color Sheet/Image size: 15 1/2 x...
Category

Other Art Style 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

Kiyomi Barrier & Seiken Temple Near Okitsu- Japanese Woodcut Print on Rice Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Kiyomi Barrier & Seiken Temple Near Okitsu - Japanese Woodcut Print on Rice Paper Woodblock print of boats in a harbor by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Originally publish...
Category

Impressionist 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Rice Paper, Woodcut

Yugiri - Woodcut by Utagawa Kunisada - 1850s
Located in Roma, IT
Yugiri is an original artwork realized in the 1850s by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Chapter 39 of the story Genji Monogatari. Color woodcut around 1851. Signed: Ichiyossai Toyokun...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

Brontops Robustus, antique Como Bluff dinosaur bone lithograph print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Brontops Robustus, Marsh 1/4' Lithograph by Emil Crisand after the drawing by Frederick Berger, under the supervision of Othniel Charles Marsh. Depicts dinosaur fossil...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

The Kirekin in Shropshire, sepia aquatint, Charles Dibdin, 1801
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
From Dibdin's 'Observations on a tour'. Charles Dibdin the elder was a famed singer, songwriter, and actor who spent a significant amount of time touring the countryside. During this...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Aquatint

A 19th Century Curtis Hand-colored Engraving of a Flowering Clerodendrum Plant
Located in Alamo, CA
This early 19th century hand-colored double fold-out botanical engraving is entitled "Clerodendrum Macrophyllum" (Broad-Leaved Clerodendrum), plate 2356, published in London in 1824 ...
Category

Naturalistic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Engraving

Suk - Chromolithograph after Karl Werner - 1881
Located in Roma, IT
Suk is a modern artwork realized d'apres Karl Werner  Mixed colored Chromolithograph.  The artwork is  after the watercolor realized by the artist during a trip to Egypt between 18...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Engraving after POUSSIN by JAZET 19th French classical landscape 17th
Located in PARIS, FR
Jean Pierre Marie JAZET Paris, 1788 - Paris, 1871 (after Nicolas POUSSIN) Color engraving 46 x 63.5 cm (59 x 74 cm for the sheet)
Category

French School 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Engraving

Dasilirio Gracile - Lithograph by Vincenzo Tenore - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph hand watercolored. Belongs to the Series "Atlante di Botanica popolare ossia Illustrazione di Piante Notevoli di ogni famiglia" (Atlas of popular botany or illustration o...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Scolopendrium Officinale - Lithograph by Vincenzo Tenore - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph hand watercolored. Belongs to the Series "Atlante di Botanica popolare ossia Illustrazione di Piante Notevoli di ogni famiglia" (Atlas of popular botany or illustration o...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Mosses - Lithograph by Vincenzo Tenore - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph. Belongs to the Series "Atlante di Botanica popolare ossia Illustrazione di Piante Notevoli di ogni famiglia" (Atlas of popular botany or illustration of notable plants o...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Coccinean Hemanth - Lithograph by Vincenzo Tenore - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph hand watercolored. Belongs to the Series "Atlante di Botanica popolare ossia Illustrazione di Piante Notevoli di ogni famiglia" (Atlas of popular botany or illustration o...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Bosia Yervamora Variegated - Lithograph by Vincenzo Tenore - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph hand watercolored. Belongs to the Series "Atlante di Botanica popolare ossia Illustrazione di Piante Notevoli di ogni famiglia" (Atlas of popular botany or illustration o...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Diatomee - Lithograph by Vincenzo Tenore - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph. Belongs to the Series "Atlante di Botanica popolare ossia Illustrazione di Piante Notevoli di ogni famiglia" (Atlas of popular botany or illustration of notable plants o...
Category

Modern 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

1898 Original Poster - Laurénol N°2 Désinfectant - Art Nouveau - Advertising
By Maurice Pillard Verneuil
Located in PARIS, FR
Very nice original poster from 1898 by Maurice Pillard Verneuil. Standing on dark blue water lilies, a pretty woman with flowing orange hair pours water from a gray jug. The essence ...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Linen, Lithograph

Frederick Stuart Church “ The Wanderers Return”
Located in San Francisco, CA
Frederick Stuart Church: 1842-1924. Very well listed American artist. He is best known for his allegorical compositions. He has auction results...
Category

Art Nouveau 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

19th century color lithograph figures cemetery willow tree memorial headstone
Located in Milwaukee, WI
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...
Category

Romantic 19th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Watercolor, Lithograph

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