Currier & Ives

U.S. firm whose lithographs were among the most popular wall hangings in 19th-century America. Nathaniel Currier (b. March 27, 1813, Roxbury, Mass., U.S.—d. Nov. 20, 1888, New York, N.Y.) served apprenticeships in Boston and Philadelphia before he set up in business in New York City in 1835. He hired James Merritt Ives (b. March 5, 1824, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 3, 1895, Rye, N.Y.) as a bookkeeper and made him his partner in 1857. Currier and Ives greatly increased the public demand for graphic images by publishing fine-quality, black-and-white and hand-coloured lithographs (see lithography) depicting disasters, political satire, views of city life, outdoor country scenes, and sentimental domestic scenes. They established outlets across the country and in London. Between 1840 and 1890 they published more than 7,000 titles. The firm continued under their sons until 1907.

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