Why People Collect Curtis Copper Plates
A private collection. A personal decision.
Every collector has a different reason for owning a Curtis copper photogravure plate.
Some are drawn to Edward Curtis. Others to Native American history and objects, photography, Americana — due to the involvement of Theodore Roosevelt and JP Morgan — craftsmanship, or simply the beauty of a unique object.
For decades these copper plates were viewed only as printing implements. After the purchase of the plates by my partner and me, we made the distinction publicly that the plates were transcendental and valuable ephemera. Collectors began to recognize that each surviving plate is a unique historical object carrying the final image created under Curtis’s direction before ink ever touched paper. Some hang the plates on a wall, framed — one next to a Basquiat — some put them away in safes, and others display them proudly in museums.
Unlike the prints they produced, there can never be another original copper plate. Prints come as part of 272 sets, and other Curtis vintage print types are limited to only a few images or large numbers of items produced.
Collecting is personal. During the years I have cared for this collection, I have watched plates find homes with museums like The Smithsonian (twice), Native American Tribes like The Cahuilla in Palm Springs, major private collectors including one who purchased more than $1 million just to show them in a museum, and individuals who simply fell in love with a particular image.
People ask whether these plates are art, historical artifacts, printing implements, or Americana.
My answer is simple.
They are all of those things.
Perhaps the best reason to own one is the simplest.
You found a plate that spoke to you. If that happens, you probably won’t need anyone else to explain why you wanted it.