Dear Helaine and Joe: I would like an evaluation of an 8-by-13-inch lithograph of George Washington. On the bottom it says: "Washington. First in war — First in Peace, and First in the hearts of his Countrymen. Lith. & Pub. By N. Currier, 2 Spruce St. N. Y." The colors are faded.
Sincerely.
—P.A.H., The Villages, Fla.
Dear P.A.H.: Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives described themselves as "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures." During their careers their prints were available on the streets of New York City for anywhere from just a few cents for the smallest images to just a few dollars for the largest, finest examples.
Currier was born on March 27, 1813, and is said to have been melancholy and introspective. His father died when he was young, and he and his brother had to support the family. Currier became an apprentice in a Boston lithography shop at age 15, and this was to become his life's work.
Currier went into business for himself with a partner named Stodart in 1835, but this association was very short lived. Currier set up his own shop at 1 Wall St. in New York City in that same year, and moved to 148 Nassau St. in 1836. He moved once again — to 2 Spruce St. — in 1838 and stayed there until 1856. And it is then and where that P. A.H.'s print was made.
Ives entered the business as Currier's bookkeeper, but in 1857 he became a partner and the firm became Currier and Ives. This company would remain in business until 1907, producing huge numbers of hand-colored lithographed prints during this 50-year time span.
At the time when Currier started his print shop, newspapers did not publish pictures, and the public was hungry for stirring depictions of current events. Currier, and later Currier and Ives, provided these as well as prints of various kinds of races and other sporting themes, sentimental scenes, images of politicians, historically themed scenes and scenes from everyday life.
These came in a variety of sizes that ranged from very small folio (7 by 9 inches) to large folio (14 by 20 inches). The image shown here is small folio and should be 8.8 inches by 12.8 inches. All things being equal, collectors tend to prefer large folio images showing such subjects as railroads, baseball, ships, sporting themes and winter scenes.
Prints that are less desirable are the smaller pieces with sentimental portraits of women and children, memorial images, religious subjects and, yes, most images of U.S. presidents. Currier and Currier and Ives made a number of lithographs featuring Washington. These include "Washington and His Cabinet," "Washington as a Mason," "Washington at Valley Forge" and "Washington Crossing the Delaware."
The value of any N. Currier or Currier and Ives print depends on a number of factors. But of primary consideration are the subject matter and the condition. Pieces with faded colors and trimmed margins are greatly devalued (trimming margins on any print is a huge no-no! You might as well be cutting up money).
In pristine condition, the insurance replacement value of this print does not exceed $350, but with fading that price falls by half or more. And if the print's margins are trimmed, the price would fall even more.
Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.