19th Century Portrait Prints

Costume and Portrait is an original lithograph artwork realized by an anonymous engraver of the XIX century. Printed in series of "France Pittoresque" at the top center. Titled in ...

Portrait is an original artwork realized by Claudin Felix (1875-1956). Original etching. Image Dimensions: 19.5 x 16 cm. Good conditions except for some foldings. The artwork rep...

"Il Café" 1896s is a splendid lithograph, engraved by the artist André Lynen (1852-1938). The state of preservation of the artwork is excellent. The sign...

Portrait is an original etching artwork realized by an anonymous engraver of the XIX century. Printed in series of "France Pittoresque" at the top center. Titled in France on the l...

Neapolitan Fishermen is an original modern artwork realized by Anonymous Artist of thr XIX Century. Original gouache. Hand-signed on the lower center corner: "LeDoux". The work is...

Roman Emperor is an original print on paper realized by F. Mazois Signed on the plate on the lower left, titled o the lower center, written at the top left "Per. Satye. I , V. 114"....

L'Enfant Aux Cerises is an original print in etching technique on ivory paper, realized after Edouard Manet (French Painter; 1832-1883) and by Henri Berengier, engraver and sculptor....

Lithograph realized in 1970s, after the original work by Toulouse-Lautrec of 1896. Limited edition of 1000. Excellent condition.

Carlo Goldoni is an amusing black and white etching realized by Raffaello Morghen, also known as Raffaele Morghen (Portici, Naples, 1758 - Florence,...

Self Portrait is an original artwork realized by Eliseo Fattorini in the second half of the XIX Century. Etching on paper. Hand-signed by the artist on the lower right corner. Orig...

Image dimensions: 20 x 17.6 cm. Torquato Tasso is a beautiful black and white etching on paper, realized in XIX century by the Italian old master, Gius...

"May Belfort" 1974 reproduction of an 1895 poster by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec produced under the auspices of the Lautrec Museum in Albi, France. Authenticated with museum seal authoriz...

Sperata is an original print, an etching realized by Fernand Desmoulin (1853-1914), d'après Henner. This luxurius profile of young woman was published on the supplement of Paris-Noë...

Auguste Rodin, French (1840 - 1917) - Antonin Proust (State Seven), Year: 1884-1888, Medium: Etching, Image Size: 6.75 x 4.25 inches, Size: 10.25 x 8 in. (26.04 x 20.32 cm), Referen...

Programme poour Le Chariot de Terre Cutte Lithograph printed in blue on pink tint thin wove paper, 1895 Signed with the artist's "TL" monogram (see photo) lower center edge Published...

Prefect of the Pontifical Ceremonial is an artwork realized by Giuseppe Capparoni (1800-1879), realized in 1828. Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate and dated on th...

Portrait of Marshal Macmahon is an artwork realized by William Holl (1807-1871), from a Photograph. Lithograph, printed in 1872 by Milliam Mackenzie, London. Good condition.

This charming etching depicts a woman on a ladder plucking plums from a tree. Her gentle features and flowing dress are captures with a delicate hand. Si...

McKenney, Thomas and James Hall. History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Unknown publisher and date, probably 1840s. ESH-TA-HUM...

After Edward Henry Potthast The Century Magazine Chromolithograph, July 7, 1896 Printed by W.B. Orcutt Co., NY Note: This image won an honorable mention in a poster contest sponsored...

Portrait of Philip Andreevich Malavin.1899.Paper, lithography, 32x23 cm, restored: professionally reinforced edges. Leon Bakst. (1866-1924)

CHIKANOBU, Yoshu (1838–1912) A Set of Six Bust Portraits of Beauties - Jidai Kagami (Mirror of the Ages). 1896-1898 A Set of Six oban tate-e woodblock prints of okubi-e (bust portraits) of beauties, titled Jidai kagami (Mirror of the Ages), documenting the fashions of former times (from the Keicho to the Meiji era) in chronological order, each sheet with a beautiful woman in sumptuous costume depicted at the lower section and a rectangular panel at the top which makes a reference to the era, some sheets with lacquer and embossed details, published by Matsuki Heikichi, variously dated Meiji 29, 30 and 31 (1896-8), all signed Yoshu Chikanobu. Each sheet approx. 36 x 23.7 cm (14 1/8 x 9 3/8 in). oyohara Chikanobu (1838–1912), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu, was one of the most successful woodblock print artists of Japan's Meiji period. He lived at a time when Japan saw the reinstatement of the emperor as ruler and underwent rapid westernization. He worked both with traditional subjects, such as actors, courtesans, scenes of famous sites, beautiful women, and with topical subjects, such as the Satsuma Rebellion (1877) and the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Chikanobu used the flat planes and decorative patterning of the ukiyo-e tradition to striking effect, adding brilliant colors, especially reds, purples, and blues to his compositions. More precisely, Ukiyo-e, or ukiyo-ye (in Japanese: "pictures of the floating world"), is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. It was aimed at the prosperous merchant class in the urbanizing Edo period (1603–1867). Amongst the popular themes were depictions of beautiful women, as is the case here with these okubi-e prints (i.e. bust portraits); kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. One of Chikanobu’s best series, A Mirror of the Ages shows women by fashion and hair style throughout history. Despite a sense of longing for the past, these prints are unmistakably modern and of their time. Each print depicts a beauty from a certain period in the lower part and customs at that time, in grisaille, in the upper part - a way to tell viewers about the latest fashion and historical backgroud at that time. The quality of printing is outstanding, especially in Chikanobu’s use of white for the rendering of the powdered faces. Indeed, Chikanobu was known as a master of bijinga (images of beautiful women), and for illustrating changes in women's fashion, including both traditional and Western clothing...

Copper-line engraving by Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780). Houbraken was a Dutch engraver famous for his series of portraits of famous English historical figures with elaborate cartouches. Originally published 1739, this impression c1820. 360mm by 230mm (platemark) Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington was the English lord...

Copper-line engraving by Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780). Houbraken was a Dutch engraver famous for his series of portraits of famous English historical figures with elaborate cartouches. Originally published 1739, this impression c1820. 360mm by 230mm (platemark) Henry Howard...

Copper-line engraving by Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780). Houbraken was a Dutch engraver famous for his series of portraits of famous English historical figures with elaborate cartouc...

Copper-line engraving by Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780). Houbraken was a Dutch engraver famous for his series of portraits of famous English historical figures with elaborate cartouc...

Copper-line engraving by Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780) after Holbein. Houbraken was a Dutch engraver famous for his series of portraits of famous English historical figures with elaborate cartouches. Originally published 1739, this impression c1820. 360mm by 230mm (platemark) Sir Thomas Smythe...

Richard Wagner Etching, c. 1880 Signed in the plate (see photo) Edition: c. 200 impressions Condition: mint Image/Plate size: 6 5/8 x 4 3/4 inches Sheet size: 14 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches ...

(Sorry for the reflections on the glass in the photos.) A little boy runaway has returned home, hat in hand, to the relief of his poor beleaguered mother (burdened with four other children, apparently) and the upbraiding of his grandmother. So many fabulous details in this 19th-century etching, in addition to its amazing engraving work (every bit of it originally incised on a metal plate!). Placard on back says "Published exclusively for members of the Crosby Opera House Art...

'Eliza Cook' Steel-engraving after a photograph by John Watkins, 1872. Facsimile signature below the image. Eliza Cook (1818 - 1889) was an English author, Chartist poet and writer...

'PRA' (President of the Royal Academy) Vanity Fair portrait of Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet, PRA, who was an English painter, designer, ...

Lithograph realized in 1970s, after the original work by Toulouse-Lautrec of 1896. Limited edition of 1000. Excellent condition.

'on 1 China station' Vanity Fair portrait of Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle GCB CMG (1836 –1929). 400mm by 270mm (sheet)

Juive d'Alger is an artwork realized by Alfred Cadart in the 1870s. Etching. Image size:21x16 Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiati...

M.J. Luquet is an artwork realized by Charles Jaque in the 1870s. Etching. Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publisher Al...

Une Porte is an artwork realized by P.L.F. Dujarric in the 1870s. Etching. Very Good conditions. Realized for the "Société des Aquafortistes. Born on the initiative of the publish...

Renoir portrait that is a quality limited edition print, unnumbered, and is plate signed. It is in good condition and nicely framed

"Uditore di Rota. Suddiacono Apostolico" is an Artwork realized in 1828 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate a...

The Cardinal Dean is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate and dated on the right m...

"Servo Pontificio detto de Virga rubea"  is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate a...

"Cameriere Secreto di Sua Santità" is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate on the ...

"Caudatario"  is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate on the right margin.  The a...

The Cardinal wearing the cape is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate and dated on...

The Father Master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on...

The Canon is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate and dated on the right margin.  ...

The Senator and the Pages is an Artwork realized in 1827 by the Engraver, Giuseppe Capparoni (Rome 1800- 1879). Etching hand colored on ivory paper. Signed on plate and dated on the...

Torii Kiyonaga woodblock print from the series "Prescious Children's Games of the Five Festivals." It shows five children playing with a ball and kites flying in the background. This...

"Title Page" and "Art Nouveau Motif" are two sides of one double-sided original lithograph by Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha. These illustrations were from "Ilsee, Princess of Tri...

Etching realized by Félix Milius d'après Van Dyck in 1872. Very good condition.

Etching realized by Félix Milius d'après Van Dyck in 1872. Very good condition.

Etching realized by Félix Milius d'après Van Dyck in 1872. Very good condition.

Etching realized by Félix Milius d'après Van Dyck in 1872. Very good condition.

Etching realized by Félix Milius d'après Van Dyck in 1872. Very good condition.

Etching realized by Félix Milius d'après Van Dyck in 1872. Very good condition.

Jan Pieter Veth (1864 - 1925) was a Dutch portrait painter and academic. During the first two decades of the twentieth century, Veth was one of the most popular portrait painters in...

A very poignant depiction. A H Marsh is one of the English artists who devoted themselves to the representation of pathetic subjects. The gravity of this painter's idea is always to ...

Signed: Oju Ginko hitsu Play: Kodan Isseki Yomikiri Publisher: Gusokuya Carver: Watanabe

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...

Portrait of Alfredo Tennyson is a modern artwork realized by an Anonymous artist in the 19th Century. Lithograph print on paper. Titled on the lower. Good condition.

Boy Mounted on a Frog is a woodcut print on paper realized by an unknown artist in the 1830s Good conditions. The artwork is created through smooth delicate strokes by mastery.