Currier and Ives Print.

To see our full collection of
Currier and Ives Prints,

Nathaniel Currier, a tall introspective man, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on March 27, 1813. When Nathaniel was 8, his father died leaving young Nathaniel and his older brother to provide for the family. Nathaniel worked at a variety of jobs until he became an apprentice at a Boston lithography shop run by William and John Pendleton. In 1833, at age 20, Nathaniel moved to Philadelphia where he made scientific images for the American Journal of Sciences and Arts.

He completed his contract in 1834 and traveled to New York where he once again worked for John Pendleton. Pendleton eventually sold his shop to young Currier and to fellow lithographer Stodart. Currier & Stodart specialized in the selling of sheet music, but the business failed to make a sizeable profit, and Stodart left the company. Currier started a new business that specialized in the selling of music, portraits, and memorial scenes.

In 1840, Nathaniel Currier met and married Eliza Farnsworth, and in 1841 his son Edward West Currier was born. Nathaniel hired his brother Charles as a lithographer and his brother Lorenzo as a sketch artist. Charles eventually invented a new type of lithographic crayon, which he named Crayola. Meanwhile, Nathaniel’s business continued to grow, and he supplied the first illustrations to daily newspapers.

In 1843, the Curriers had another child, a daughter named Eliza. Little Eliza died in 1847 and her mother, stricken with grief, passed away 4 months later. Nathaniel’s artwork changed after his wife’s death, and he began to produce sentimental pieces. In 1847 Nathaniel married Lura Ormsbee and in 1849 they had a son whom they named Walter Black Currier. Tragedy struck and little Walter died at the tender age of 1. Walter’s death was quickly followed by the news of Lorenzo’s death, and Nathaniel Currier fell into a deep depression.

In 1852, Nathaniel Currier was introduced to James Merritt Ives. Ives was a gregarious and portly man born in New York in 1824. He was raised by his father, a janitor, at Bellevue Hospital. Ives took over the bookkeeping of the company as well as streamlined production. In 1857, Nathaniel offered James a full partnership in the company and Currier & Ives was born. Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives attracted a large circle of friends including Horace Greeley and Phineas T. Barnum. They described themselves as, “publishers of cheap and popular prints” and over the years they produced 7500 different titles and over 1 million prints. These prints included disaster scenes, hunting scenes, city and rural scenes, and famous race horse scenes.

Nathaniel Currier retired in 1880 and signed over his share of the company to his son Edward. He died 8 years later at his home in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Jim Ives remained an active member of Currier & Ives until his death in 1895. He passed on the company to his eldest son Chauncey. In 1902, Edward sold his share to Chauncey and in 1907 modern inventions pressured Chauncey into closing Currier & Ives.

Charlsie Medellin, 2004.