Currier & Ives was a successful American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives based in New York City. The prolific firm chiefly produced black-and-white lithographs that were hand-colored.  Lithographic prints could be reproduced quickly and purchased inexpensively, and the firm called itself “the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints.”

“Currier & Ives” was the name used by the firm from 1857 until 1907. The business had its beginnings in two predecessor firms involving Nathaniel Currier: first as Stodart & Currier (1834) and then as N. Currier (1835 to 1856). Currier was a printmaker and businessman; James Ives started as the firm’s bookkeeper in 1852 and five years later became Currier’s partner. Neither was an artist, so though all Currier & Ives prints were published by the partners, they were drawn and lithographed by other persons. Nathaniel Currier retired in 1880 and died in 1888 and James Ives died in 1895. The firm, under the direction of their sons Edward West Currier and Chauncey Ives, carried on until 1907. Though the name of the firm changed over time, all prints produced by this firm, even before 1857, are often referred to as “Currier & Ives prints.”

Currier & Ives Frequently Asked Questions

Currier & Ives Previously Unrecorded Prints List