Lark Mason Associates is pleased to announce that one of the single largest auctions of large folio Currier & Ives lithographs–in at least 75 years–will be sold on the online auction platform www.iGavelAuctions.com. The two-session sale consists of over 800 rare and significant prints from the iconic printmakers and their contemporaries. Bidding for Session I opens on Tuesday, May 18 through Thursday, June 3, followed by Session II on Thursday, May 27 through Tuesday, June 15. 

“We are delighted to offer this single-owner collection which documents the beginnings of lithography in the United States,” says Lark Mason. “The colors and quality of many of the works are exceptional.” According to Mason, the owner was dedicated to preserving many of the most notable American artists of their time.

Though the major focus of this vast collection is lithographs with an emphasis on work by Currier & Ives, it also features many other important American printers such as William and John Pendleton, Nathaniel Currier, Charles Currier, the Kellogg Brothers, Alois Senefelder, the German inventor of lithography, as well as early American painter Bass Otis, and his first treatise on the method of stone lithography.

Says Charlene Wang, the fine art specialist overseeing the sale: “Currier and Ives considered themselves to be “printmakers to the people” and their works were priced so that the common man could enjoy them. In keeping with their mission, we are pleased to offer these beautiful prints at very accessible prices.”

Among the highlights in Session I are: Nathaniel Currier, The Road Winter (estimate: $12,000-15,000), 1853; , 1876; Currier & Ives, American Hunting Scenes, An Early Start, Full sheet (estimate: $3,000-5,000) 1863; Currier & Ives, City Of New York, The Bird's Eye View From The South (estimate: $5,000-8,000),1876; Four Seasons of Life, The Youth (Set of Four) (estimate: $1,500-3,500), 1868; Currier & Ives, Through to The Pacific (estimate: $900-1,800), 1870; and Charles Currier, Reindeer Polka (estimate: $100-200), 1850.

Session II includes: Currier & Ives, Life of A Hunter Catching A Tartar (estimate: $5,000-10,000), 1861; Currier & Ives, Yosemite Valley: The Bridal Veil Fall (estimate: $3,500-6,000); 1866; Currier & Ives, Gold Mining in California (estimate: $3,000-6,000); 1871; and Currier & Ives, Cash on Delivery COD (estimate: $2,000-3,000), 1868.

About Lark Mason

With locations in New Braunfels, Texas and New York City, Lark Mason Associates, the eponymous, auction house specializing in Asian, ethnographic, and ancient works of art, was founded by Lark Mason after many years as an expert at Sotheby's New York.

Mason served as a General Appraiser from 1979 until 1985, and as a Senior Vice President and specialist in Chinese art with Sotheby's Chinese Works of Art Department from 1985-2003.  From 2000-2003 he concurrently was a Director of Online Auctions for Sothebys.com. He also served as a consulting curator at the Trammel and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas from 2003-2009. He is a generalist in American and European works of art and paintings, as well as an expert in the field of Chinese art and has valued and advised many private collectors and institutions.

Lark Mason Associates regularly hosts auctions on the iGavel Auctions platform and has an established history of record sales of Chinese and other works of art and holds the record for the highest price achieved for any work of art in an online sale, for a painting sold in May 2014 that realized close to $4.2m. Mason, the owner and CEO of iGavel Auctions, is noted for his regular appearances on "The Antiques Road Show." He currently serves as the president of the Appraisers Association of America.