Everything Lovely

In this humorous animal print by an unnamed artist, a donkey (center), standing (with its right leg raised) between overturned flower pots it has knocked over, eats flowers beneath a blossom-covered tree (right). The glass roof of a large greenhouse comprises the background (upper left).

Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century America. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the accounting-savvy brother-in-law of Nathaniel's brother Charles, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes, rural and city views, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life, comic situations and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments.