Nathaniel Currier

1813-1888

American (Boston, Massachusetts; New York, New York)

Nathaniel Currier was an American lithographer, who later in life headed the company Currier & Ives with James Ives. Currier was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and attended public school until age fifteen when he was apprenticed to the Boston printing firm of William and John Pendleton. The Pendletons were the first successful lithographers in the United States, lithography having only recently been invented in Europe, and Currier learned the process in their shop. He subsequently went to work for M. E. D. Brown in Philadelphia, in 1833. The following year, Currier moved to New York City, where he was to start a new business with John Pendleton. Pendleton backed out, and the new firm became Currier & Stodart, which lasted only one year. In addition to being a lithographer, he was also a volunteer fireman in the 1850s.

In 1835, Currier started his own lithographic business as an eponymous sole proprietorship. He initially engaged in standard lithographic business of printing sheet music, letterheads, handbills, etc. However, he soon took his work in a new direction, creating pictures of current events, like the recent fire in New York.

In 1850, James Ives came to work for Currier's firm as bookkeeper. Ives' skills as a businessman and marketer contributed significantly to the growth of the company; in 1857 he was made a full partner, and the company became known as Currier & Ives. Although best known as creators of popular art prints, such as Christmas scenes, landscapes, or depictions of Victorian urban sophistication, Currier & Ives also produced political cartoons and banners, significant historical scenes, and further illustrations of current events. Over the decades, the firm created roughly 7,500 different images.

Artist profile image: Nathaniel Currier. The Old Print Shop.

Nathaniel Currier

Objects

Currier, Nathaniel 1813-1888

View of the Great Conflagration at New York July 19th 1845: from Cor. Broad & Stone St.

1845

Currier, Nathaniel 1813-1888

The High Bridge at Harlem, NY

1849