Publishers for the People
“Our experience of over Thirty years in the trade enables us to select for Publication, subjects best adapted to suit the popular taste, and to meet the wants of all sections, and our Prints have become a staple article which are in great demand in every part of the country.” So states an 1870's catalogue sales letter by the New York lithographic firm of Currier & Ives, self-proclaimed publishers of “Popular Cheap Prints…in great variety.”A lot has changed since Currier & Ives sold its prints from as little as a few cents to a few dollars. In February 2004, “The American National Game of Base Ball” hit a home run at Skinner's American Furniture and Decorative Arts auction, selling for a record $76,375. The reason for the record is threefold: “This is the best antique baseball print ever made, it is a Currier & Ives print and it is rare,” says Christopher Lane, co-owner of the Philadelphia Print Shop. “Those three factors conjoined make it especially valuable.”
That's not to say collectors of lesser means will strike out when looking for an original print by Currier & Ives (the firm produced more than 7,500 different images and employed several artists). According to the American Historical Print Collectors Society (AHPCS), prints in very good to excellent condition can still be found from $75 to $3,000 for a small folio (approximately 8 x 12 1/2 inches), $150 to $5,000 for a medium folio (10 to 14 x 14 to 20 inches) and $400-plus for a large folio (exceeding 14 x 20 inches).
“Subject matter is instrumental in determining value,” says Donald C. O'Brien, president of AHPCS. “Among the least popular are religious and memorial prints. Mid-range subjects include foreign views, fruit and flowers. Leading the way are winter scenes, American views and sporting prints, such as horse racing, hunting and, of course, baseball.”
Condition also is an important factor, and the presence of tears, holes, stains and other surface blemishes can significantly affect value. “Pine backboards often were used in original framing,” explains Robert Kipp, a professional print restorer since 1979 and owner of Art & Old Print Restorations in Marblehead, Massachusetts. “This inappropriate framing permits oxidation and contamination, which can result in surface soiling, water staining, foxing, mold and mildew.” The cost to restore a large folio, without any coloring or tears into the image, runs from $300 to $350, Kipp says; more extensive repairs can cost $450 or more and take several months to complete. “Prints without image damage can be restored back to most of their original beauty and value,” he notes. “This is not the case with holes and tears, where value will remain reduced despite professional restoration.”
Perhaps the greatest risk lies in the number of reproduction Currier & Ives prints, which appeared as early as the 1930s. “There is a very good reproduction of 'The American National Game of Base Ball,'” says Lane. “In 1942, Andres Inc. of New York made a series of 20 top-quality reproductions of large folio Currier & Ives prints. The series also included such classics as 'The Road-Winter' and 'Home to Thanksgiving.' These are quite hard to spot since they are hand-colored lithographic prints of the right size. The only difference is that Andres used a technique known as collotype, which uses gelatin rather than a stone lithograph. Consulting an expert before purchase is strongly recommended; about 80 percent of the Currier & Ives prints I see as an appraiser on 'Antiques Roadshow' are fakes.”
Reproduction prints are not the only items sporting non-authentic Currier & Ives images. “It was the proliferation of items such as decorator plates, canisters, dinnerware, lamps, stove burner covers, cigar bands and even deodorant, which formed the genesis of the Currier & Ives Foundation,” says Scott Currier, president. “Every Christmas, our family would exchange tacky Currier & Ives souvenirs as gag gifts,” says Currier, who is a distant relation of Nathaniel Currier (his great-grandfather, Cyrus, was Nathaniel's first cousin). “After I while, we began to realize it really wasn't that funny; many people actually believe these items are authentic. It seemed important to change that perception.” The result is the Currier & Ives Foundation, a non-profit corporation run by members of the Currier family. “Unfortunately, the last Ives died several years ago, although we have been contacted by descendants of several of the artists,” Currier says.
Dedicated to preserving, cataloging and providing historical information, the foundation is most proud of one unexpected consequence. “Schools and libraries use our sample prints and educational packets as a chronicle of 19th-century American life, seen through the eyes of the average citizen,” Currier says. “It seems a fitting tribute, because that's exactly what Nathaniel Currier and James Ives tried to do.”
Judy Penz Sheluk reports on antiques and fine collectibles for collector publications and price guides in the United States and Canada.
For More Information
American Historical Print Collectors Society
www.ahpcs.org
Fairfield, Conn.
Art & Old Print Restorations
www.oldprints.com
Marblehead, Mass., (781) 864-0200, E-mail: robkipp@oldprints.com
Longmont, Colo., (720) 933-7649, E-mail: oldprint@comcast.net
Currier & Ives Foundation
www.geocities.com/scurrier
Longmont, Colo. E-mail: scurrier@yahoo.com
The Old Print Shop
New York, (212) 683-3950
The Old Print Gallery
www.oldprintgallery.com
Washington, D.C. (202) 965-1818, E-mail: info@oldprintgallery.com
The Philadelphia Print Shop
www.philaprintshop.com
Philadelphia (215) 242-4750, E-mail: philaprint@philaprintshop.com
Skinner Inc.
www.skinnerinc.com
Bolton, Mass., (978) 779-6241
Boston, (617) 350-5400
Springfield Museums, Museum of Fine Arts
www.springfieldmuseums.org
Springfield, Mass. (413) 263-6800, E-mail: info@springfieldmuseums.org
“Currier & Ives: An American Panorama.”(through June 4) features 175 selections from the museum's recently acquired collection of 787 hand-colored lithographs.
Museum of the City of New York
www.mcny.org
(212) 534-1672, E-mail: info@mcny.org
Houses the Harry T. Peters Collection, the most complete set of hand-colored Currier & Ives prints in existence.
Reference Books
Currier & Ives Prints: An Illustrated Checklist by Frederic A. Conningham (Crown, 1983). This is the most widely used Currier & Ives reference book by dealers and collectors. Prints are usually cited with the Conningham number (for example, C: 6169 is “Trotting Cracks at the Forge”). The first edition listed about 5,700 prints and was expanded to include almost 7,000 when last published in 1983.
Currier & Ives: A Catalogue Raisonné by Gale Research (Gale Group, 1984). This massive two-volume set lists more than 7,500 prints, but is now out of print. Well worth looking for on the used market.