Nathaniel Currier was a famous nineteenth-century American artist and lithographer, who founded the company Currier & Ives with James Ives. Born in Massachusetts, he attended school until age fifteen, when he was apprenticed to a printing firm in Boston. The company he trained with, William and John Pendleton, was the first successful lithography business in the United States. Lithography was still new even in Europe, and Currier was trained in the cutting-edge technology. Later he worked for a Philadelphia firm and then moved to New York City, where he planned to start a new business with John Pendleton. Pendleton decided to bow out of the proposed business, but Currier persisted and formed a partnership with another lithographer, though their firm lasted only one year. He decided to try going into business on his own, focusing on printing sheet music, letterheads, and handbills.

By late 1835 he began to shift to more creative efforts, and issued a print featuring a recent fire in New York, entitled, Ruins of the Merchant's Exchange N.Y. The success of his print inspired him to focus almost entirely on independent print publishing. His new approach was successful and in 1850 he hired James Ives to serve as the company's bookkeeper. Ives was trained in business and marketing, and before long the company experienced significant growth and renown. Their work is recognized as a form of popular art, such as stereotypical Victorian scenes and Christmas-themed prints. However, Currier and Ives also produced political cartoons, banners, and depictions of important current events. The firm ultimately created more than 7,000 different images. In addition to his printing business, Currier served as a volunteer firefighter. He married twice, first to Eliza West Farnsworth. The couple had one child, Edward West Currier. After Eliza's death, he married Lura Ormsbee. He retired from business in 1880, turning the firm over to his son, and died in New York City in 1888.

Image: Currier & Ives' "Central-Park, Winter: The Skating Pond," 1862.