Joseph Pennell’s etching, “St Martin’s Bridge, Toledo,” 1904

Joseph Pennell (1857–1926) (Note: Pennell gave the date of his birth as 1860 but his true birth date is 7 April 1857.)

“St Martin’s Bridge, Toledo” (aka “Puente de San Martin, Toledo”), 1904, artist’s proof, hand-signed in pencil by the artist before later publication in “The Studio” (see description of this print at The Morgan Library and Museum: https://www.themorgan.org/prints/item/380589), possibly in an unsigned edition of 30 according to Wuerth’s (1928) catalogue raisonné for Pennell (p. 107; see also Davison Art Centre: http://dac-collection.wesleyan.edu/Obj10590).

Etching with aquatint printed in brown ink on Japanese vellum, artist’s proof hand-signed in pencil, with small margins.

Size: (sheet) 23 x 29.3 cm; (plate) 19.8 x 25 cm.

Hand-signed artist’s proof before publication in an unsigned edition of 30 impressions. Wuerth (1928) advises that the printing plate has been destroyed (see p. 107).

Wuerth 312 (Louis August Wuerth 1928, “Catalogue of the etchings of Joseph Pennell,” Boston, Little, Brown and Company, p. 107, cat. no. 312; https://archive.org/details/catalogueofetchi00penn/page/106/mode/2up).

Condition: a marvellous, richly inked artist’s proof pencil signed by the artist, with small margins and in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or significant signs of use—there are pencil notations recto and verso and the lower right margin is lightly bumped).

I am selling this exceptionally rare hand-signed proof-state impression—printed before the published edition of only 30 unsigned impressions before the printing plate was destroyed—executed by one of the most famous artists and writers of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries for AU$338 (currently US$242.94/EUR204.94/GBP185.27 at the time of posting this print) including Express Mail (EMS) 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 small masterwork showcasing the printmaker’s skill to use the technique of retroussage where the printmaker lightly touches the freshly inked plate with a soft rag to “drag” ink out of the etched lines to create velvety marks giving tactile substance to the landscape features, 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