Currier and Ives
Currier and Ives was an American printing company based in New York City, which was headed by Nathaniel Currier lithographer (1813-1888) and his partner James Ives ( 1824-1895 ). The company was founded in 1835 and had to cease operations in 1907. The prints are still popular today, for originals high prices at auctions partly paid.
History
Currier worked for the first time in the company Stodart & Currier as a printer before he set up his practice in 1835 with the company N. Currier. In newspapers No images were printed, yet the people longed to see pictures from the news that they were reading. The first print was produced could be rescued alive on the collapse of hotels in New Orleans, in which fifty people buried, forty.
In 1852 Currier hired the auditor James Ives. Due to the vastly improved accounting also the letterpress designed efficiently. In 1857 Currier hired him the same, and made him his partner. Until the rest of their lives they remained good friends.
Mass medium
Currier and Ives described themselves and their company as a publisher of cheap and popular images ( engl: Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures). Your images have become more popular and were often bought. In the period of existence of the company from 1835 to 1907 prints were sold over one million, set by a rod set printer and were painted by hand. This happened on a kind of assembly line work, the pressure in turn zuschoben in most German -born immigrant women, each had to paint a single color.
The images presented many events of American life dar. were particularly sought winter scenes, horse racing, images of people and ships, sporting events and more scenes from the American Civil War.
End of the company
After the death Currier Ives in 1888, the company operated until his death in 1895 continues. Due to improvements in printing and especially the advent of photography, dwindled the public interest in lithographs. This led to the closure of the company in 1907.
Today, original Currier and Ives prints are highly sought after by collectors, and modern reproductions are popular decorative objects. Especially popular are the winter scenes that are portrayed in most American Christmas cards.