Currier and Ives Original Prints
from the collection of:

George Cohenour
4301 Beaumont Road
Dover, PA 17315
Phone: (717) 292-5345

Orders & Information, e-mail: cohenour@currierprints.com

Information from "CURRIER & IVES LITHOGRAPHS VALUE GUIDE" 

MAKING A LITHOGRAPH

Lithography is a printing process invented by a Bavarian named Alois Senefelder. Lithography, simply explained, involves grinding a piece of limestone flat and smooth then drawing the image on the stone with a special grease pencil. The stone is then etched with an acid solution, leaving the greased areas in slight relief. The stone is wetted with water and a greased ink applied, as grease and water do not mix, the greased ink is repelled by the wet areas of the stone and clings to the grease pencil lines. The paper would then be placed on the inked stone, pressure applied and released, and a print pulled from the press. The print would then be ready for coloring by hand.

THE PRODUCTION HOUSE

Currier & Ives main production operation was located at 33 Spruce Street, where they occupied the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor was devoted to the hand operated printing presses. The artists, lithographers and stone grinders worked on the fourth floor. The fifth floor housed the coloring department, one of the earliest production lines in the country.

FOLIO SIZES

Currier did not made his prints in any standard size. The images have a broad range depending on the amount of detail he wished to show. To make it easy for collectors, by using the image size of the print,we can fit them into these generalized folio sizes.

PAPER SIZES USED

So many of Currier’s prints found today have, over the years, been cut to fit existing frames. Finding a framed 10" x 14" print has become what most people believe is a full size small folio print. While Currier did place an advertisement stating his prints were designed to fit a 10" x 14" frame, the print did not start out that way. Few people realize the size sheet of paper he used to make the print.

Almost all prints considered small folios were printed on a sheet 13 ½" x 17 ¾". Medium folios were printed on 16" x 20" or 19" x 24". Depending on the size of the image the paper size varied for large folios. Below are some of the full sheet paper sizes that Currier & Ives used.

COLORING A PRINT

The colorists Currier & Ives employed were generally immigrant teenage girls, mostly German, with some formal artistic training. Each colorist was responsible for adding a single color to the print. As their color was finished, the print was passed down the line to the next colorist who added their color. The colorists worked from a master print displayed above their table, which showed where the proper colors were to be applied. At the end of the table was the touch up artist. During the Civil War the demand for prints was so great stencils were used to speed up the line. .

 

Although most of the prints were colored this way, some prints were sent out to artists. The rate was one dollar per one hundred small folios and one dollar per dozen large folios. There is a bill from James Baille, another lithographer, to Currier for the coloring of 2378 copies of sixteen different small folio titles. Mr. Baille’s charge was one cent each for a total of $23.78

 

Currier & Ives also had a catalogued price list devoted to uncolored prints. Instructions were included on the price list as to how to prepare the print for coloring and mentions different methods of painting, including Grecian. Teachers could order from the catalogue and use the prints in art class.

Over the year’s I have seen prints of the same title appear with both Summer and Autumn color schemes. Two that come to mind are "Pigeon Shooting, Playing the Decoy" and "The Home of the Deer".

 

When asked, "Do you think the print was colored by Currier ?", you can honestly say, "I don’t know".

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All Text and Images © 1998-2009 George Cohenour, All Rights Reserved