Merry Christmas (Currier & Ives)
1876 · Lithograph · Library of Congress, Washington, DC
The whole print, uncropped, on a printed cream mat with its title beneath.
Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Printed to order, arrives in 4–9 business days
- Arrives perfect or we reprint it, free
- Secure checkout with Stripe
- Questions? hello@madten.com
About this work
- Artist
- Currier & Ives (firm active 1857–1907 (Nathaniel Currier 1813–1888, James Merritt Ives 1824–1895))
- Year
- 1876
- Medium
- Lithograph
- Collection
- Library of Congress, Washington, DC
- Movement
- American Folk Art
The words Merry Christmas are drawn in tall capital letters with deep black shadows, the M and C picked out with small rosettes and flower patterns. A garland winds through and around the letters: holly and ivy on the left, oak leaves, acorns and blackberries across the top, ears of wheat on the right and daisies and lilies along the foot. The design is printed in black on a cream sheet, with no added colour. Currier & Ives, the New York firm best known for hand-coloured country scenes, published it in 1876 from their premises at 125 Nassau Street. The firm also sold lettered mottoes and greetings as inexpensive pictures for the home. The copyright stamp on the lower left of the sheet dates this one to 1876. It is listed as number 4467 in the Gale catalogue raisonné of Currier & Ives prints. This impression is in the Library of Congress.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Black ornamental lettering and a garland of holly, acorns and berries on a cream ground. Hang it over a mantel or in an entryway for the holiday season beside Catesby's Little Thrush and Dahoon Holly, in a black frame.
Size, framing & materials
- Style
- American Folk Art painting
- Era
- 19th century (1876)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 16×12, 24×18, 32×24 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard; 32×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard. See it to scale on your wall →
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
- Restored in-house from a scan of the original print, cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution
- Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Framed option: wood frame in black or dark wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size
- Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen
