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Wednesday 27 May 2020

Anthonie Waterloo’s etching, “The Plank Bridge”, c.1650


Anthonie Waterloo (aka Antoni Waterlo) (1609–90)

“The Plank Bridge” (aka “Le Pont de Planches”; “Landschap met een bruggetje van planken”), c.1650 (1630–1663), plate six from the series, “Six landscapes” (H.47–52) (aka “Hilly Landscapes”; “Heuvellandschappen”), from the François Basan (1723–1797) edition of “Eighty-Eight Landscapes of Different Sizes” printed on forty-nine sheets published in 1776–77.

Etching on laid paper trimmed with a small margin around the platemark and laid onto a support sheet.
Size: (sheet) 13.7 x 15.9 cm; (plate) 12.6 x 15 cm; (image borderline) 12.5 x 14.9 cm.
Inscribed on plate at upper-right: “Antoni Waterlo fe. et in.”

State ii (of ii) I may incorrect in my attribution of this impression to the second state as the distance between the chain-lines suggest that the print is from edition earlier than the Basan folio. Moreover, I see little difference when comparing the first state impression with this one regarding Morse’s (1992) description that in the second state there is “[v]ertical shading added along the lower part of the trunk of the large tree at the left and next to its lowest branch …” (p. 59). My attribution to the second state is based on comparing the treatment of the slightly blurry reproduction of BM’s first state impression of the mound left-of-centre in the foreground which I perceive as showing less mechanical hatching strokes than in this impression.

TIB 0201.052 S2(Peter Morse [ed.] 1992, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Antoni Waterloo”, vol. 2, Part 1, Commentary, New York, Abaris Books, p. 59, cat. no. .052 S2; see also vol. 2, p. 43, cat. no. 52 [59]); Hollstein 52–2 (Christiaan Schuckman [comp.] 1997, “Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts c.1450–1700: Antoni Waterloo”, vol. 50, Rotterdam, Sound and Vision Rijksprentenkabinet, p. 124, cat. no. 52); Bartsch II.59.52 (Adam Bartsch 1803, “Le Peintre Graveur”, 21 vols, Vienna).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:
“The plank bridge; crossing a small stream in a wooded landscape at right; two men seated on the side of the road at right”

See also the description of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum:

Condition: richly inked and well-printed impression showing minimal wear to the printing plate. The sheet is trimmed with a small margin around the platemark and is laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in excellent condition for its considerable age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains or foxing).

I am selling this very beautiful etching executed with great sensitivity—note the artist’s approach to rendering foliage with strokes that give form and weight to the leaf masses as well as creating rhythms inviting a viewer’s eye to move to critical points of interest—for the total cost of AU$293 (currently US$194.14/EUR176.08/GBP158.27 at the time of 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 complexly interesting landscape by one of the most famous autodidact artists of the 17th century, 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











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