Fanny Palmer: One of America’s Most Important Artist-Printmakers of the 19th Century

By:  Jennifer Madden,  Director of Collections & Exhibitions

Frances Flora “Fanny” Bond Palmer (1812-1876) was the leading female lithographer of her time.

Born in England, she was trained in drawing and lithography while a teen. As an adult she and her husband opened a printing business that struggled because of an economic depression. The Palmers emigrated to New York City hoping to be successful in the United States. They again opened a printing business. Fanny completed all of the artwork for their firm while also working as an artist for other lithographers. It was in this way that she came to the attention of Nathaniel Currier, who was impressed with her skillful drawing of landscapes and architecture.

In 1851, Currier bought out the Palmer’s business and hired Fanny to work for him. Fanny’s husband died from a drunken fall down a set of hotel steps in 1859 so she became the breadwinner for her family. She was one of the few artists Currier & Ives kept on staff full-time and her output was tremendous. She became one of Currier & Ives’s most prolific and versatile printmakers. She created at least 170 of the firm’s finest and best-loved prints, ranging in subject matter from farm scenes and landscapes to railroad trains, steamboat, still lifes, and sporting prints. It is believed that she also produced many of the smaller anonymous prints. Fanny not only created entire works, but also collaborated with other Currier & Ives artists. She also painted full color models used as references by the women who hand-colored the prints, and even helped Currier’s brother Charles develop a better lithographic crayon.

Given that Palmer completed so many different prints for Currier & Ives, and that the firm printed thousands of copies of each print, Palmer’s work was probably the most widely distributed of any female artist in the nineteenth century.

Below are some examples of Fanny Palmer’s lithography prints, all from Heritage Museums & Gardens’ permanent collection. From top left to bottom right:

• American Farm Scenes No. 3, Nathaniel Currier and Frances Flora Bond Palmer, 1853
• American Express Train, Currier & Ives and Frances Flora Bond Palmer, 1864
• “Wooding Up” on the Mississippi, Currier & Ives and Frances Flora Bond Palmer, 1863′
• The Rocky Mountains, Emigrants Crossing the Plains, Currier & Ives and Frances Flora Bond Palmer, 1866
• Landscape, Fruit and Flowers, Currier & Ives and Frances Flora Bond Palmer, 1862