Johann Jakob Haid & Johann Elias Haid’s mezzotint, “The Prodigal Son in the Greatest Misery”, c1775

Johann Jakob Haid (aka Johann Jacob Haid, Johann Jacobus Haid) (1704–1767) and his son, Johann Elias Haid (1739–1809)

“The Prodigal Son in the Greatest Misery” (aka “L'Enfant Prodigue Dans la Plus Grande Misère”; “Der Ungerathne Sohn im Elend”; “The Unwary Son in Misery”), c1775, plate 4 from the series of 6 mezzotints, “The Prodigal Son”, based upon Sébastien Leclerc II's (1676–1763) series, "L'Histoire de l'Enfant Prodigue” (1751), published in Augsburg by Johann Jakob Haid and his son.

Mezzotint with etching on thick laid paper trimmed slightly within the image borderline and text, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 32.4 x 39.8 cm; (image borderline) 29.2 x 39.8 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (centre) "L'Enfant prodigue dans la plus grande Misere. Der ungerathne Sohn im Elend”; (right) “J. J. Haid et filius excud A. [V.]"

The Library Company of Philadelphia offers the following description of this print:

“Plate 4 from a circa 1775 Prodigal Son series of prints depicting the Prodigal Son in misery. Shows a young white man in the middle of a pen of pigs and in front of a barn. The man stands with his hands clasped, his head tilted to the right, and his eyes gazing up. He wears a tri-corn hat, an open shirt, breeches, a long coat, stockings, and slipper shoes. In the left, two pigs eat from a trough. In the right, two pigs stand and a third pig lies down. In the right background, countryscape is visible” (http://pacscl.exlibrisgroup.com:48992/F?func=direct&doc_number=000333698&solr).

See also the description of this print offered by the Yale Center for British Art: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:23259.

Condition: a strong impression with replenished losses in the sky and dots within the image, trimmed slightly within the platemark and laid onto a sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this velvety and glowing mezzotint showing the key moment in the story of the prodigal son where his extravagantly careless lifestyle has led him living with swine—note the artists’ curiously comical interpretation of what a contrite young man might look like—for the total cost of AU$236 (currently US$168.50/EUR149.36/GBP126.37 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this marvellous print exemplifying a lobulate approach to rendering forms (i.e., the clouds, trees, swine and even the chap’s chest are all portrayed as if they are constructed from lumps/lobes), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold 

Alfred Robaut’s lithograph, “Hercules Throwing King Diomedes to his Man-eating Horses”, c1865, after Eugène Delacroix

Alfred Robaut (aka Alfred-Ernest Robaut) (1830-1909)

“Hercules Throwing King Diomedes to his Man-eating Horses”, c1865, after a study (c1852) by Eugène Delacroix (aka Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix) (1798-1863) (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Delacroix_-_Hercules_Throwing_King_Diomedes_to_his_Man-eating_Horses.jpg), possibly a design study for the decoration of the Salon de la Paix in the newly expanded Hôtel de Ville (Paris City Hall) (see the discussion of a related pencil study in the collection of the MET: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/355649), printed in Douai by Alfred Robaut and published in Paris in 1865 by Dusacq & Cie (with the blind-stamp of the series) as plate 70 to the second volume of “Eugène Delacroix: Fac-Simile de Dessins et Croquis Originale par Alfred Robaut.”

Lithograph printed in sanguine coloured ink on grey chine collé (China) with full margins as published and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 37.7 x 47.9 cm; (chine collé) 27.9 x 34.7 cm.

Numbered in plate above the image borderline: (left) “N^o. 70.”

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Eug. Delacroix.”; (right) “Imp. Alf. Robaut, Douai”.

Blind-stamped below the image borderline: (in an oval at centre) “EUGÈNE DELACROIX/ FAC-SIMILE/ DE DESSINS et CROQUIS ORIGINALE/ PAR ALFRED ROBAUT”.

Condition: a near faultless impression laid onto a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling.

I am selling this lithograph from the late 1800s designed to showcase Eugène Delacroix’s consummate skill as a draftsman—note how the lithograph not only captures the subtle variations of Delacroix’s  strokes but how it also simulates the grainy texture of his chalk lines—for the total cost of AU$198 (currently US$141.14/EUR124.65/GBP105.79 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this visually arresting lithograph—note that Robaut has chosen to print the sanguine colour of Delacroix’s lines onto a light grey chine collé paper to give vibrant depth to the colour—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Félix Bracquemond’s etching, “Didier Erasme”, 1863, after Holbein

Félix Bracquemond (aka Joseph Auguste Félix Bracquemond) (1833–1914)

“Didier Erasme” (aka “Érasme” [BM title]), 1863, after Hans Holbein the Younger’s (1497/8–1543) “Portrait of Erasmus”, 1523, in the collection of the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv.no.1345) (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg), printed by the Chalcographie du Louvre.

Etching on cream chine collé on heavy wove paper with huge margins and blind-stamped with the seal of the Chalcographie du Louvre.

Size: (sheet) 69.3 x 55 cm; (plate) 32.1 x 25.5 cm; (chine collé) 30.6 x 23.9 cm; (image borderline) 24.8 x 19.9 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “H. Holbein pint.”; (centre) “CHALCOGRAPHIE DU LOUVRE/ Didier Erasme”; (right) “Bracquemond sc.”

Blind-stamped with the seal of the Chalcographie du Louvre at lower centre.

Final state xi (of xi) with the name of the Chalcographie du Louvre added (Beraldi offers descriptions of the previous ten states).

Beraldi 39 (Henri Béraldi 1885, “Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle: Guide de l'Amateur d'Estampes Modernes: Bracquemond”, vol. III, Paris, Librairie L Conquet, p. 27, cat. no. 39 [Portraits]).

The British Museum offers a description of this print: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1923-0714-155.

Condition: a richly inked and mostly well-printed impression—note that there are ink dots on Érasme’s chin—with enormous margins. There are minor tears and marks in the margin edges, otherwise this is a simply magnificent impression with no major issues.

I am selling this masterwork of etching after Holbein’s famous portrait of the Dutch philosopher and Catholic theologian, Erasmus (aka Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus), for AU$257 in total (currently US$183.13/EUR161.77/GBP137.29 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this marvellous (and huge) etching—note that I have listed an etching by Henri Lefort reproducing the same painting by Holbein that may be interesting to compare—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Wendel Dietterlin’s etching, “Cartouche on a Pedestal Flanked by Lions and a Unicorn”, c1594

Wendel Dietterlin (the elder) (aka Wendel Dietterlein; Wendelin Dietterlin; Wendelin Grapp; Wendel Grapp) (1550/51–1599)

“Cartouche on a Pedestal Flanked by Lions and a Unicorn”, c1594 (Rijksmuseum dates: 1593–1595), plate 27 from Dietterlin’s treatise on architectural ornament, “Wendel Dietterlin, Architectura de Polstium seu Portalium ornatu uario Liber II”, published in 1594 in Straatsburg by Bernhard Jobin (fl. 1570–1594) (see http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.736929), before the plate number was changed to “87” in later editions (see, for example, Balthasar Caymox’s edition in Nuremberg (https://archive.org/details/architectvravona00diet/page/87/mode/2up) and Liége C Claesen’s edition of 1862 (https://archive.org/details/gri_33125015064658/page/n182/mode/2up).

Etching (from an iron plate) on fine laid paper (with watermark).

Size: (sheet) 27.7 x 20.2 cm, (plate) 24.9 x 18.2 cm.

State i (of ii) (?) Lifetime impression before the change of the plate number to “87”

Orn Cat I 319-67 (Irene Margaretha de Groot 1988, “Ornamentprenten in het Rijksprentenkabinet”, Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum Staatsuitgeverij, vol. 1, p. 165, cat. nos. 319-67; Hollstein 17–1a (F.W.H. Hollstein 1959, “Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700: Cranach–Drusse”, vol. 6, Amsterdam, Menno Hertzberger, p. 214, cat. no. 17–1a); Le Blanc 1 (Ch. Le Blanc 1854, “Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, contenant un dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations”, Paris, vol. 2, p. 131, cat. no. 1).

Condition: a well-printed impression printed in a slightly grey ink with small margins. Beyond a splash mark/stain on the lower edge and a faded ink number added by an old hand on the upper margin, the sheet is in a very good condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or foxing.

I am selling this extremely rare etching, executed by one of the early architectural visionaries of the 16th century who arguably perceived the five orders of architecture as only a point of departure for creative invention, for AU$272 in total (currently US$194.31/EUR173.09/GBP146 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this amazingly inventive design for architectural ornamentation—note the magnificent mannerist twist that Dietterlin has given to his treatment of the rampant lions! —please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold 

Back’s engravings of two celestial maps, “l'Hemisphére Celeste Austral”, 1732

Back (possibly in collaboration with Pierre Bourgoin [fl. 1740–1780])

Two celestial maps, “Premiere Partie de l'Hemisphére Celeste Austral” and “Seconde Partie de l'Hemisphére Celeste Austral”, 1732, initially published in 1732 in Paris by chez la veuve Estienne & Fils as (folded) pages 318 and 320 to Noël-Antoine Pluche’s (aka abbé Pluche) (1688–1761) “Le spectacle de la nature, ou entretiens sur les particularités de l'histoire naturelle qui ont paru les plus propres à rendre les jeunes-gens curieux, & à leur former l'esprit” ([transl.] “The spectacle of nature, or interviews on the peculiarities of natural history which seemed the most suitable to make young people curious, and to train their minds), vol. 4.

Archive.org offers an online view of these celestial maps in their context in the publication: see https://archive.org/details/CHEPFL_LIPR_AXA57_04/page/n345/mode/2up & https://archive.org/details/CHEPFL_LIPR_AXA57_04/page/n349/mode/2up.

Regarding explanatory text to these celestial maps, the following description extracted from page 583 may be helpful: (Google Transl.) “… pages. 318; & 320, represent the constellations of the other hemisphere from the Equator to the Southern pole, which is the centre. As soon as we are sure to know a single constellation, or even a single star, like the Polar, which is very close to the Arctic pole, one can by comparing in a beautiful night the neighbouring stars which are in the planispheres, with those which one sees in the sky, to disentangle little by little these, & to call the principal ones by their names.”

Two engravings on fine laid paper abutted as a single composition on a support sheet.

Size: (backing sheet) 47.7 x 42.9 cm; (each sheet with small variations) 16.5 x 29.7 cm; (image borderline of each sheet with small variations) 14.5 x 28.5 cm.

Lettered in upper plate: (upper left) “PREMIERE/ L'HEMISPHÉRE”; (upper right) “Tom. IV. Pag. 318./ PARTIE DE CELESTE AUSTRAL”; (lower left) “Back Sc.”

Lettered in lower plate: (lower left) “SECONDE/ DE L'HEMISPHÉRE”; (lower right) “PARTIE CELESTE AUSTRAL”.

Condition: both engravings are strong and well-printed (near faultless) impressions that have been flattened, abutted and mounted on a larger sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper as a composite celestial map. Beyond minor imperfections in the mounting, both engravings are in a near pristine condition.

I am selling this visually arresting sky map from the early 1700s, showing the constellations and their names, for the total cost of AU$372 (currently US$267.89/EUR238.87/GBP200.77 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this spectacular composite of two very rare engravings, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.