Currier & Ives

Currier & Ives was a lithography firm in New York City for over 70 years. Founded by Nathaniel Currier in 1834, the firm produced over one million prints including 7500 different titles. James Ives joined the firm in 1852 and in 1857 was made a full partner. Nathaniel Currier was born on March 27, 1813 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. At the age of 15, he became an apprentice to the Pendelton Brothers print shop in Boston. The brothers established their firm in 1824 with equipment acquired from Europe. Currier followed John Pendleton to Philadelphia and on to New York where Pendleton sold the business to Currier and a man name Stodart. The two businessmen did not get along and soon after Nathaniel Currier was on his own. As a result there are only a few images with the imprint Currier & Stodart. The shop was essentially a job press or commercial operation in the early years. Fame and financial success came after Nathaniel Currier began to create disaster prints such as "Ruins of the Planter's Hotel, New Orleans, which fell at two o'clock on the morning on the 15th of May 1835, burying 50 persons, 40 of which escaped with their lives" and a lithographic image of the sinking of the Lexington which was published in conjuction with the "New York Sun" under the heading "The Extra Sun". The demand for the latter image was so great the presses ran day and night. James Merritt Ives was born on March 5, 1824 in New York. Initially hired as a bookkeeper, his talent and knowledge of art coupled with his salesmanship made him a partner in the firm in 5 years. Many talented artists were employed by the firm among them Fanny F. Palmer who was responsible for many of the firms landscapes. The artists Goerge Henry Durrie, painter of winter scenes and Arthur F. Tait, Western artist also submitted work to be made into lithographs. The lithographs produced by the firm were handmade, handcolored prints. They were not limited editions so the number of prints under each title is unknown. Stones were sometimes ground and used for other prints and multiple stones were sometimes used to make production faster. Nathaniel Currier retired in 1880 and his son succeeded him. When James Ives died in 1895 his son succeeded him. The advent of photolithography and a changing collector's market made it difficult to continue the business. Currier & Ives closed permanently in 1907.

Currier & Ives Images:
A Double-Barreled Breech-Loader
A Home on the Mississippi
American Farm Scenes
American Homestead in Autumn
American Homestead Spring
American Homestead Summer
American Homestead Winter
Drew and St. John
Flora Temple and Princess
Fruits Autumn Varieties
General Butler and Dexter
Landscape, Fruit and Flowers
Member-Fire Department, 1877
Summer in the Country
Summer Scene in the Country
The First Bird of the Season
The Great Double Team Trot