Pierre Guillaume Merzbacher’s three engravings, “L’Amour”, “La Fortune” and “L’Amitié”, 1857, after Bouguereau

Pierre Guillaume Merzbacher (1815–c1872)

(left) “L’Amour” (Love), (centre) “La Fortune” (Fortune), (right) “L’Amitié” (Friendship), 1857, three engravings on cream chine collé (China) on heavy wove paper, printed by Brébant (fl.c1857–1865) and published in “L’Artiste”, Part 2, 1958, after paintings of the same composition by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) that were exhibited in the Salon of 1857 and currently in the Résidence de l'Ambassadeur des États-Unis d’Amérique, Paris (see the interesting online article regarding the restoration of Bouguereau’s “L’Amitié” and photographs of this painting in the Ambassador’s residence: http://www.cecilecharpentier.fr/fr/usa.php?lieu=residence).

Note: archive.org offers online viewing (and free-of-charge downloading) of the publication in which these engravings feature; see the prints in their contexts with the following links:

“L’Amour” (https://archive.org/details/lartistepart00unkngoog/page/n236/mode/2up);

“La Fortune” (https://archive.org/details/lartistepart00unkngoog/page/n44/mode/2up);

“L’Amitié” (https://archive.org/details/lartistepart00unkngoog/page/n144/mode/2up).

Each of the three engravings are titled on plate below the image borderline at centre and are lettered with the following publication details: (above the image borderline) “L’ARTISTE […] SALON DE 1857”; (below the image borderline) “BOUGUEREAU. PINXT. […(title)/] Imp. Brébant, 7 rue de Lancry_Paris […] MERZBACHER. SC.”

Size of each engraving:

“L’Amour” (sheet) 31.3 x 19.8 cm; (plate) 25.9 x 18.3 cm; (image borderline) 22.2 x 11.2 cm;

“La Fortune” (sheet) 31.2 x 21.1 cm; (plate) 29.3 x 19.9 cm; (image borderline) 25.2 x 12.5 cm;

“L’Amitié” (sheet) 31.2 x 19.9 cm; (plate) 27.7 x [?] cm; (image borderline) 22.2 x 111.1 cm.

Condition: strong impressions in excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing. “L’Amitié” is trimmed within the platemark on the sides and “La Fortune” has replenished lines around the image borderline where there was a thread gap in the chine collé edge.

I am selling this set of three graphically arresting engravings exemplifying the exuberant spirit of La Belle Époque in 19th century France, for AU$383 in total (currently US$279.11/EUR235.68/GBP210.21 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 these stunningly rich engravings, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Paul Gavarni’s pencil drawing, “Yes, but you will see the captain …”, c1850

Paul Gavarni (aka [nom de plume] Hippolyte Guillaume Sulpice Chevalier) (1804–1866)

“Yes, but you will see the captain …”, c1850, pencil study for the lithograph of the same title, plate 6 from the series of twenty plates, “Les Parents Terribles” (from the broader series, “Masques et Visages” [Masks and Faces]), published in 1853 by Giasarni Librairie Nouvelle and printed by Lemercier (fl.1827–1899) in Paris.

See a trial proof of this lithograph at the Art Institute of Chicago; see also the published state (with other prints from the same series) showcased by Nestini in (tranl.) “Informative, helpful and non-tiring” (5 March, 2020):

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/10945/les-parents-terribles-series-yes-but-you-will-see-the-captain;

https://irecommend.ru/content/poznavatelno-polezno-i-ne-utomitelno. 

Pencil (graphite) on wove paper (presumably a sketchbook page based on the binding holes at left) with a hand-written pencil annotation at lower right: “— Les parent terribles —/ oui tu vas voir le capitaine venir et tarabuster/ le scelerat.” (“— terrible parents —/ yes you will see the captain come and give trouble to/ the miscreant”) and the number “6” at upper right corner (corresponding with the published plate number).

Size: (sheet) 26 x 21 cm.

Study for the lithograph: Mahérault & Bocher / Armelhault & Bocher 1425 (Marie Joseph François Mahérault & E Bocher 1873, “L'oeuvre de Gavarni: Lithographies originales et essais d'eau-forte et de procédés nouveaux: Catalogue raisonné”, Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles, p. 367, cat. no. 1425; see: https://archive.org/details/loeuvredegavarni00mah/page/366/mode/2up). 

Condition: There is smudging and pale staining at lower right otherwise the sheet is in a very good condition with (sketchbook) binding holes on the left side.

I am selling this original preparatory pencil study for the sixth lithograph in the series, “Les Parents Terribles”,  executed by one of the most famous of the 19^th century French illustrators, for AU$420 in total (currently US$303.54/EUR257.40/GBP230.11 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 this unique opportunity to acquire an artist’s original pencil study for a published print, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Lucien Marcelin Gautier’s etching, “La Passe du Vieux Port à Marseille”, 1882

Lucien Marcelin Gautier (1850–1925)

“La Passe du Vieux Port à Marseille”, 1882, the first plate from the suite of fifteen etchings, “Vues de Marseille” (Beraldi 17–31), artist’s proof scratch signed and dated on the plate before formal lettering with title and publication details for the French periodical, “L'Art: Revue Hebdomadaire Illustrée”, printed by François Liénard (fl.1860s–1880s) in Paris.

According to Beraldi's catalogue raisonné (1887, vol. 6, pp. 250–51), Gautier executed in total, sixteen views of Paris, fifteen views of Marseille and twenty views of other localities within and beyond France.

Etching with pale plate tone on imitation vellum wove paper with pre-publication scratch signature and date on plate, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 26.4 x 41.6 cm; (plate) 25.3 x 40.5 cm; (image borderline) 21.3 x 38.5 cm.

Inscribed on plate above the image borderline: (left) “Lucien Gautier 1882”.

Beraldi 1887 17 (Henri Beraldi 1887, “Les graveurs du 19e siècle; guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes”, vol. 6, Paris, L Conquet, p. 251, cat. no. 17).

Condition: richly inked, near faultless impression with small margins laid onto a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in an excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, losses, stains or foxing).

I am selling this stunning panorama of the old port of Marseille showing the many small sail craft giving a sense of the bustling life in the harbour in the late 1800s for AU$276 in total (currently US$201.69/EUR170.45/GBP151.61 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 poetically glowing proof-state etching, 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

Carel Dooms’ re-engraving upon Aegidius Sadeler II’s original printing plate, “Laura de Dianti with a Black Page”, c1620, after Titian

Carel Dooms (fl.1629) re-engraving upon the original plate by

Aegidius Sadeler II (aka Egidius Sadeler; Gillis Sadeler; Gillis Sadler; Ægedius Sadeler) (1570–c1629)

“Laura de Dianti with a Black Page”, c1629, after Titian’s (1490–1576), “Portrait of Laura Dianti” (1520–1525) in the H. Kisters Collection, Kreuzlingen.

Note: Isabelle de Ramaix (1997) in the catalogue raisonné for Aegidius Sadeler II offers the following insights about this curiously interesting engraving:

“Seems re-engraved on Ægidius’s plate, for the inscription set exactly as in S2 [the second state of Sadeler’s impression] of original plate except that ÆPI TITIANVS INVENT replaces ÆERI INCISVM MARCVS.” (see TIB 7201.123 C1 S1, p. 201).

Engraving on laid paper trimmed with a thread margin around the image borderline on the top and sides and retaining the four lines of Latin text below the image borderline, backed on a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 33.3 x 24.4 cm; (image borderline) 29.9 x 24.1 cm.

Lettered on plate within the image borderline: (upper right corner) “C.D.F.[ecit]” (Carel Dooms’ monogram).

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: “ADMODVM ILLVSTRI ET GENEROSO VIRO DOMINO LVCAE VAN VFFELE/ PATRONO SVO ÆTERNVM COLENDO OPVS HOC A SACRÆ CAESAREÆ/ MAIESTATIS SCVLPTORE ÆGIDIO SADELER ÆPI TITIANVS INVENT./ SADELER OBSERVANTIÆ ERGO DONAT DEDICAT.”

State i (of ii) before the erasure of the monogram, “C.D.F.”

TIB 7201.123 C1 S1 (Isabelle de Ramaix 1997, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Ægidius Sadeler II”, vol. 72, Part 1, New York, Abaris Books, p. 201, cat. no. [7201] .123 C1 S1).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print which has been incorrectly(?) proposed as being a second state impression by Aegidius Sadeler II (note Carel Dooms’ monogram at upper right):

(Transl.) “Laura de 'Dianti, wife and former mistress of Duke Alfonso I d'Este. Next to her a young black servant”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.167894).

Condition: well-printed impression trimmed to a thread margin around the platemark on the top and sides, but retaining the text lines below the borderline. There are several restored tears and dot abrasions, otherwise the sheet is in good condition for its considerable age with no holes, folds, losses, significant stains or foxing and laid onto a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this fascinating re-engraving of Aegidius Sadeler’s original printing plate for the total cost of AU$468 (currently US$343.52/EUR289.69/GBP257.22 at the time of this listing) 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 rare engraving, 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

Paul Edme Le Rat’s drypoint, “Trop Chaude”, 1875

 

Paul Edme Le Rat (aka Paul Edmunde Le Rat; Paul Edme Lerat) (1842–1892)

“Trop Chaude” (Too Hot), 1875, Plate 24 from the series “L'Eau Forte en 1875,” containing 136 prints by various artists, including Daubigny, Legros, De Nittis and Appian (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1915-0105-14-32), published by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) in Paris in a volume of four years of “L'Eau-Forte,” c1875.

Drypoint with pale plate tone on chine collé on laid paper with full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 52.5 x 35.5 cm; (plate/chine collé) 26 x 19.9 cm; (image borderline) 21 x 15.9 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (lower centre in reverse) “LE RAT”.

Numbered and lettered on plate: (upper right corner) “24.”; (lower left corner) “P. Le Rat, del. et sc.”; (lower centre) “TROP CHAUDE.”; (lower right corner) “A. Cadart, Edit. Imp. 56, Bard Haussman, Paris.”

IFF 24 (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes).

The British Museum offers a description of this print: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1915-0105-14-56.

Condition: marvellous, near faultless impression with generously wide margins (as published) in an almost pristine condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or significant signs of handling).

I am selling this superb drypoint executed with great sensitivity and skill, showing a mother blowing on a spoonful of food to cool it—hence the title “Too Hot!”— before feeding her baby, for the total cost of AU$224 (currently US$165.45/EUR138.20/GBP123.19 at the time of this listing) 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 exceptional drypoint, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.