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The publishing firm of Currier & Ives created the most popular and highly regarded lithographs of quintessentially American scenes ever produced. The quality, vast scope and engagingly populist style of their works have made their names synonymous with an idealistic vision of 19th-century American promise and optimism.
Nathaniel Currier began his lithographic career as an apprentice in 1828. By the mid-1830’s he had established his own firm on Spruce Street in New York City. In 1857 James Ives became a partner in the flourishing business, which went on to produce over 7,000 lithographs by 1907.
Currier & Ives was undoubtedly the most prolific firm of lithographers in America, its output greater than that of all the other firms combined. The remarkable scope of this production was matched by the company’s ability to anticipate popular themes and subject matter. Among their many works are lithographs depicting sporting, railroad and rural scenes, marine, and western views, as well as foreign and domestic city views, historical tableaux, and a wide range of sentimental, morally instructive and advertising images. Arader Galleries presently has available a remarkable number of the most spectacular lithographs produced by this renowned firm. Please visit our San Francisco gallery location to see our fine selection of these prints, or call us at 415.788.5115 to receive our Currier & Ives catalog.
Mo-Hon-Go An Osage Woman
No-Tim A Chippewa Chief
Petalesharoo A Pawnee Brave
Po-Ca-Hon-Tas
It is with the greatest pleasure that we introduce to you our latest catalog highlighting our extraordinary collection of portraits of Native Americans by McKenney and Hall. Thomas McKenney was Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1816 until 1830, and one of a very few government officials to defend American Indian interests. When a large delegation of Indians came to see President Monroe in 1821, McKenney commissioned the portraitist Charles Bird King to paint the principal delegates, dressed in costumes of their choice. Many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century were among King’s sitters, including Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, and Osceola.
McKenney later worked with James C. Hall, a Cincinnati judge and novelist, to compile copies of King’s portraits and produce History of Indian Tribes of North America in 1836. Most of King’s original portraits were subsequently destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian in 1865, so their appearance in McKenney and Hall’s publication is the only record of the likenesses of many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century:
These hand-colored lithographs by McKenney and Hall remain as the most complete and colorful record of the native leaders who made the long journey to Washington to speak for their people. Please call Arader Galleries San Francisco location at 415.788.5115 to receive the catalog. There is also a great display of McKenney and Hall lithographs hanging at the San Francisco 432 Jackson Street location.
The publishing firm of Currier & Ives created the most popular and highly regarded lithographs of quintessentially American scenes ever produced. The quality, vast scope and engagingly populist style of their works have made their names synonymous with an idealistic vision of 19th-century American promise and optimism.
