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1840-1907 Currier & Ives Lithographs of our military


hhbooker2
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Nataniel Currier, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on March 27, 1813. At the age of 15, he apprenticed in the Boston print shop of William and John Pendleton, where he was taught the art of lithography by Pendleton's chief lithographer Dubois. In 1833, Nathaniel left Pendleton's and moved to Philadelphia to work with M.E.D. Brown. In 1834, Nathanmiel moved to New York City to rejoin his mentor, John Pendleton, who was operating his shop at 137 Broadway. That same year Currier and another printer, Stodart, formed a partnership buying Pendleton's New York business. Nathaniel experimented with porftraits, disaster scenes and memorial prints, patriotic scenes supporting the U.S. military and naval forces, including a tribute to President William Henry Harrison who in 1841, died in office. Nathaniel Currier retired in 1880, and turned over the his share of the firm to his son Edward West Currier. Nathaniel died in Amesbury, Massachusetts in 1888. The Currier & Ives firm ceased in 1907. Another famous lithograph firm was that of Peter S. Duval (1805-1886) who was partners with William M. Huddy) in 1840, their firm was Huddy & Duval Lithographers. Below is an 1849 lithographic print titled: "THE YOUNG SAILOR." :rolleyes: Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California (E,ail me at: [email protected] to get free daily scans like this!).

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Something interesting about Currier & Ives prints is that they originally sold (mostly by mail order from catalogues) for $2.50 - $4.00 or so each, unframed and sometimes framed (if small).

 

Almost every home in America had at least one Currier & Ives, usually over the mantle or the piano in the parlor or front room.

 

Today, some examples sell for well over $35,000 and up.

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Something interesting about Currier & Ives prints is that they originally sold (mostly by mail order from catalogues) for $2.50 - $4.00 or so each, unframed and sometimes framed (if small).

 

Almost every home in America had at least one Currier & Ives, usually over the mantle or the piano in the parlor or front room.

 

Today, some examples sell for well over $35,000 and up.

 

ermm.gif BLUEHAWK: Yes, quite right, they fetch high prices as do those of Henry Alexander Ogden. When will the market bottom out and investiments go south? Here is a litho print titled: "The Sailor - Far - Far - At Sea" (1847). ermm.gif

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ermm.gif BLUEHAWK: Yes, quite right, they fetch high prices as do those of Henry Alexander Ogden. When will the market bottom out and investiments go south? Here is a litho print titled: "The Sailor - Far - Far - At Sea" (1847). ermm.gif

booker - I think the market for these will NOT bottom out, but rather see a consistent if slow increase indefinitely over coming decades.

 

Unlike speculation in contemporary or fashionable (e.g. American Impressionist) art, always the MOST volatile (and some would say foolhardy) markets, vintage print collectors are rather more like vintage militaria collectors - in that a steady pace over long spans of time is commonplace.

 

In addition, C&I prints are in limited (although a large) number, and when collected are usually treasured by private holders and public collections. When they do sell, they sell from estates and at auction where bidding is sensible and educated vs being hysterical and irrational, or from the occasional rare "attic find". Museums rarely sell any C&I. In the 21st century, such prints are fairly well long past having become out of style, so we will probably see the last remnants of ones long held by grandparents emerge from dim storage.

 

In any case, even the most common C&I print will increase in value without doubt. The scholarship already done about these works has been exhaustive, as you know. What that means is supply and demand have permanently stabilized, which is a factor that dependably drives prices up.

 

A person could do a lot worse than pursue C&I, and while the dividends will not materialize in a flash, over time I would estimate not less than a 15-30% increase.

 

Swann Galleries in NYC is often a reliable source for C&I print auctions...

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booker - I think the market for these will NOT bottom out, but rather see a consistent if slow increase indefinitely over coming decades.

 

Unlike speculation in contemporary or fashionable (e.g. American Impressionist) art, always the MOST volatile (and some would say foolhardy) markets, vintage print collectors are rather more like vintage militaria collectors - in that a steady pace over long spans of time is commonplace.

 

In addition, C&I prints are in limited (although a large) number, and when collected are usually treasured by private holders and public collections. When they do sell, they sell from estates and at auction where bidding is sensible and educated vs being hysterical and irrational, or from the occasional rare "attic find". Museums rarely sell any C&I. In the 21st century, such prints are fairly well long past having become out of style, so we will probably see the last remnants of ones long held by grandparents emerge from dim storage.

 

In any case, even the most common C&I print will increase in value without doubt. The scholarship already done about these works has been exhaustive, as you know. What that means is supply and demand have permanently stabilized, which is a factor that dependably drives prices up.

 

A person could do a lot worse than pursue C&I, and while the dividends will not materialize in a flash, over time I would estimate not less than a 15-30% increase.

 

Swann Galleries in NYC is often a reliable source for C&I print auctions...

 

:unsure: BLUE HAWK: Interesting about Currier & Ives, bet the counterfeiters are hard at work reproducing these on old original paper and ink? Like the Vincent Price motion picture "The Baron of Arizona" in which he stays in a monastary and forges documents naming him land in Arizona in which he used old paper and ink. Here is a print showing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing ("Black Jack"), not sure who did this one? :unsure: Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California

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pinch.gif "Come and Join Us Brothers" 1860s print. pinch.gif

Nice one ^ booker!

 

EASY to tell repros from McCoy.

 

Under magnification, repros show gazillions of dots in a regular pattern. There are gazillions of C&I repros. Look for dots.

 

If dots? Buy for fun and $3-5 unframed.

 

No dots? Dicker.

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Nice one ^ booker!

 

EASY to tell repros from McCoy.

 

Under magnification, repros show gazillions of dots in a regular pattern. There are gazillions of C&I repros. Look for dots.

 

If dots? Buy for fun and $3-5 unframed.

 

No dots? Dicker.

 

pinch.gif BLUE HAWK: Well, they used to engrave on a litho-stone or metal plates and the modern stuff is printed differently with dots from various coloured screen and its like making a laser colour photocopy of banknotes or engraving them at the Bureau of Engraving, a strong magnifying glass or loop does make a difference. Here is an 1855 print of "Lieutenent General Winfield Scott, General in Chief of the United States Army." pinch.gif

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pinch.gif BLUE HAWK: Well, they used to engrave on a litho-stone or metal plates and the modern stuff is printed differently with dots from various coloured screen and its like making a laser colour photocopy of banknotes or engraving them at the Bureau of Engraving, a strong magnifying glass or loop does make a difference. Here is an 1855 print of "Lieutenent General Winfield Scott, General in Chief of the United States Army." pinch.gif

You got it, booker!

 

One caveat is that many of the C&I-era prints were done in a process called (in some form) "photp-chromolithography", which means something different than a straight stone lithograph, or metal engraving.

 

Contemporary "Iris" or digital prints make fakes harder, but not at all impossible, to detect.

 

But, again... no dots = good - dots = poster grade

 

You've got a real nice selection showing here!

 

I'm envious (it's a cardinal sin, I know - but I'm headed the other way anyhow :D )

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You got it, booker!

 

One caveat is that many of the C&I-era prints were done in a process called (in some form) "photp-chromolithography", which means something different than a straight stone lithograph, or metal engraving.

 

Contemporary "Iris" or digital prints make fakes harder, but not at all impossible, to detect.

 

But, again... no dots = good - dots = poster grade

 

You've got a real nice selection showing here!

 

I'm envious (it's a cardinal sin, I know - but I'm headed the other way anyhow :D )

 

:lol: Here is the famous print "U.S. Army - Generals - 1864" made in 1899. I used to be a printer's devil and later a lab technician in a printing ink company in D.C., BLUE HAWK! :lol:

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:lol: Here is the famous print "U.S. Army - Generals - 1864" made in 1899. I used to be a printer's devil and later a lab technician in a printing ink company in D.C., BLUE HAWK! :lol:

Well, you know the whole magilla then... so, that's how you came to be collecting prints?

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Well, you know the whole magilla then... so, that's how you came to be collecting prints?

 

BLUE HAWK: I collect prints and then give them away to those who collect them also, I only scan what I have and put it on a CD and in the past made a laser colour photocopy. I collect old booklets, brochures, etc., scan them to CD and either away both actual ephemera and used to give away CDs too, but had to keep asking recipients if they received the CDs? If so, asked if they looked at them yet and if not, why not? I used to send free insignia to people and soon discovered if it was not their area of collecting, they got rid of it and seemed unhappy it was not somthing they wanted. A few were smart enough to muse it to TRADE for stuff they wanted or they sold it and used the money to buy what they were after, quite a simple solution? I gave away a large shoebox full of USN rates and the fellow in England belirving that if their own Royal Navy at the time was collected much, he took it to the show and it sold out in a matter of minutes and they clamoured for more - he could not believe it, of course! Oldest stuff I gave away were antique uniforms, swords, firearms, etc., from the 1845-1848 period. I am NOT a seller or dealer, but I respect them. 1844 "Steam Frigate Princeton" of a cannon blowing up, wonder what it would have looked like had they photography to catch the moment it exploded? Probably grusome? Anyway, hopefully the recipients will stay in touch so I can send them more prints? People stop writing and as a result they don't get more free stuff, does not figure, you'd think they stay in touch? Anyway, glad a few out there appreciate these postings! thumbdown.gifthumbsup.gif

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I sure as hell do enjoy seeing them... I've been fascinated by military works on paper almost since I can remember in my former profession.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

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I sure as hell do enjoy seeing them... I've been fascinated by military works on paper almost since I can remember in my former profession.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

crying.gif BLUE HAWK: Here is a certificate of discharge for a member of the Reading Artillery for their service in the Mexican War, it is still a print, at least the upper half is! I enjoy taking time to post here, Blue Hawk! I was never ever able to make water colours even though I can paint, draw, etc., that is a special talent and requires patience. :)

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crying.gif BLUE HAWK: Here is a certificate of discharge for a member of the Reading Artillery for their service in the Mexican War, it is still a print, at least the upper half is! I enjoy taking time to post here, Blue Hawk! I was never ever able to make water colours even though I can paint, draw, etc., that is a special talent and requires patience. :)

Dang! :blink: That ^ one is something else - really nice to see.

 

I went the whole gambit of art school, through first year grad school (when I changed to a profession in which money could be made dependably ;) ) so, I got to try my hand at various printmaking types, watercolor, oil the whole magilla.

 

I did do 3 or 4 nice pieces... but the most important thing I learned was what goes into making a work of art. That helped my my entire career more than anything else.

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Dang! :blink: That ^ one is something else - really nice to see.

 

I went the whole gambit of art school, through first year grad school (when I changed to a profession in which money could be made dependably ;) ) so, I got to try my hand at various printmaking types, watercolor, oil the whole magilla.

 

I did do 3 or 4 nice pieces... but the most important thing I learned was what goes into making a work of art. That helped my my entire career more than anything else.

 

 

:blink: 1900 print of a Captain of Cavalry. Art is valued, artists are not! In the time of ancient Greece and Rome, artists could be either free men or slaves, both got the same rate of pay and difference was the master of the slave got their pay, neither was respected, sort of like how actors were treated even to the 1920s and Vaudeville where respectable hotels would not rent to them along with the Irish! I quit being a signpainter after I struck out on my own as customers wanted signs for less than they paid their own employees - a regular job was necessary if one wanted to eat regularly! I gave a lot of original art I did to eBay sellers who have yet to advertise and sell it and keep their profits. I must wonder why attitudes towards those gifted in an art are thought of as pariahs even now? :blink: Sarge Booker

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I must wonder why attitudes towards those gifted in an art are thought of as pariahs even now? :blink: Sarge Booker

After 40 years of studying that question, I can safely say most of that is brought on themselves, by their arrogance, egomania and quite often just plain lousy art - which they, of course, regard to be superior to Michelangelo.

 

I've come to know thousands of artists, and would not give $10 for 90% of them, as artists.

 

As people, of that number maybe 25% are worth sacrificing for.

 

Which is, naturally, what makes the others so outstanding.

 

Fine art is a very very very weird business. I'm grateful to be retired from it.

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After 40 years of studying that question, I can safely say most of that is brought on themselves, by their arrogance, egomania and quite often just plain lousy art - which they, of course, regard to be superior to Michelangelo.

 

I've come to know thousands of artists, and would not give $10 for 90% of them, as artists.

 

As people, of that number maybe 25% are worth sacrificing for.

 

Which is, naturally, what makes the others so outstanding.

 

Fine art is a very very very weird business. I'm grateful to be retired from it.

 

BLUE HAWK: So true, ever wonder how many mediocre artists actually try to live off of what they earn selling their artwork? We know a wealthy man who supports such friends by buying their art as a favour. Some live in the basement of their grandparents house. They're probably the people who show up at parties whom no one can recall sending an invitation to? What ironic is they believe their own hype. I have done art myself and knew I'd need some sort of employment and drew pictures of insignia in pen and ink on velumpaper, for A.S.M.I.C. and various authors of insignia books, for free, of course! Here is a cut out of an 1898 U.S. Army soldier likely the infantry? The other appears to be a Cuban rebel soldier? w00t.gif Sarge Booker

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BLUE HAWK: So true, ever wonder how many mediocre artists actually try to live off of what they earn selling their artwork? We know a wealthy man who supports such friends by buying their art as a favour. Some live in the basement of their grandparents house. They're probably the people who show up at parties whom no one can recall sending an invitation to? What ironic is they believe their own hype....

Sarge,

The NEA did a study in 1986 or so which showed that of all artists in America, only 25% earn $10,000 or more from their work each year.

 

Money isn't the measure of much except itself, but still, one does have to wonder what all the rest of those people are doing to make enough to pay for the art supplies. About 80% of them go in debt to the tune of $20-75,000 for their fine arts degree... and end up doing everything other than art for a lifetime.

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Sarge,

The NEA did a study in 1986 or so which showed that of all artists in America, only 25% earn $10,000 or more from their work each year.

 

Money isn't the measure of much except itself, but still, one does have to wonder what all the rest of those people are doing to make enough to pay for the art supplies. About 80% of them go in debt to the tune of $20-75,000 for their fine arts degree... and end up doing everything other than art for a lifetime.

 

BLUE HAWK: One reason I chose pen and India ink as it was cheaper than expensive oil paints. Still, a bottle of India was enever cheap, nor was velumpaper! Ten thousand dollars a year is a small ammount when one considers someone who makes US$8 an hour will make US$16,000 a year and that is US$6,000 more than the 25% artists who get that little! Making art takes time and even if they work a 40-hour week elsewhere, they cannot have more than 6 hours a day to paint or create art in some way. The lithographers who created the art probably did not retire to a large estate in the country. I worked in an art factory where others bragged about going to an art school and I made a point of saying I never spend a day in one and out-performed them, maybe they took too many tea breaks?

:o (1898) "In the trenches before Santiago." :o Sarge Booker

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