Philips Galle's engraving, “Tamesis”, 1586

Philips Galle (aka Philippe Galle; Philippus Gallaeus) (1537–1612)

“Tamesis” (aka “River God Tamesis”), 1586, plate 17 from the series of seventeen plates (TIB 5601.090:1 to 5601:090:17),“Semideorum Marinorum Amnicorumque Sigillariæ Imagines Perelegantes” (River and Sea Gods) (Hollstein 316-332 [Ph. Galle]), published by Philips Galle in Antwerp.

Edition-Originale.com offer a superb description of the publication of this series and images of the plates: https://www.edition-originale.com/en/antique-books-1455-1820/editions-originales/-semideorum-marinorum-amnicorumque-1586-50148.

Engraving on laid paper, trimmed with thread margins close to the image borderline and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 16.5 x 9.9 cm.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) "Phls Gall. inuen/ et Scalp.”); (centre) "TAMESIS." (Note that the plate number 17 has been erased similar to the copies in the Rijksmuseum [RP-P-1898-A-19961] and The Met [53.601.20(31)]).

State i (of ii) Note that the attribution of this impression to the first state is based on the text line being the same as the first state impression held by the Rijksmuseum (RP-P-1898-A-19961).

TIB 1987 5601.090:17 (Arno Dolders [ed.] 1987, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish Artists: Philips Galle”, vol. 56, Supplement, New York, Abaris Books, p. 353); New Hollstein Dutch 429-1 (2) (Marjolein Leesberg & Manfred Sellink [comp.] 2001, Rotterdam, “The New Hollstein : Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700: Philips Galle”, Sound and Vision, p. 115; p. 133 [fig.], Cat. 429).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“The river god Tamesis (the Thames), seated on a stone block. The cornucopia in his hands. The print is part of a seventeen-part series about river and sea gods”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.114838).

Condition: well-printed impression with an abraded lower right corner (erasing the plate number “17”) and other small spots of abrasion, otherwise the sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, stains or foxing). The sheet has been trimmed with thread margins around the image borderline and has been laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this visually arresting image of the weary river god of the Thames (Tamesis), engraved by one of the most famous old master engravers of the sixteen century, for AU$300 (currently US$203.93/EUR184.88/GBP156.12 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 marvellous print engraved only a couple of decades after Michelangelo put down his brushes after completing the “Last Judgement” in the Sistine Chapel, 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

Ferdinand Gaillard's engraving, “L'homme à l'oeillet”, 1869, after Jan van Eyck

Ferdinand Gaillard (aka Claude Ferdinand Gaillard) (1834–1887)

“L'homme à l'oeillet” (The Man with the Carnation) (aka “Portrait of a Man with Carnation and the Order of Saint Anthony”; “Man with a Pink Carnation”; “Man with Pinks”; “Porträt eines Mannes von Garofano”), 1869, after the oil on oak painting, “Portrait of Jean de Bauière, L'homme à l'oeillet” (collection of the Staatlisches Museum in Berlin), c.1436, by Jan van Eyck (c.1390–1441), originally published in “La Gazette des Beaux-Arts” (Paris) in 1869. This impression was published by Albert Quantin (1850–1930) in c.1878 and printed by Charles Chardon aîné (fl.c.1850–1878).

Regarding Van Eyck’s painting, in “The Painted Carnation: A Pictorial Flower (Second Part)” (https://www.journaldespeintres.com/loeillet-peint-une-fleur-picturale-derniere-partie/), Tony Goupil (2012) proposes (in translation) that the “portrait would have been done in fact by an epigone of Van Eyck” and that the subject “could possibly be Jean of Bavaria, bishop of Liège, nicknamed Jean without mercy … and wears a silver cross of the order of Saint Anthony.” Goupil explains that the red and white carnations held by the subject are emblems of “love and constancy.” From my understanding of these dual emblems (love and constancy), there is a link between the notion of memento mori (i.e. the inevitability of death) in the fading life of flowers and the ongoing painful element of what Goupil describes as “affliction, the regret to see them wither.”

Engraving on chine collé on wove paper.

Size: (sheet) 25.6 x 21.9 cm; (plate) 19.7 x 15.1 cm; (chine collé) 18.7 x 13.5 cm; (image borderline) 15 x 11.6 cm.

Lettered on plate above the image borderline: (centre) “EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE 1878”.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “VAN EYCK PINX/ Gazette des Beaux-Arts”; (centre) “L'HOMME A L'ŒILLET./ (GALERIE DE MR SUERMONDT.)/ A. QUANTIN EDITEUR”; (right) “GAILLARD SCULP./ Imp.Ch.Chardon ainé”.

State vi (of vi) with the lettered publication details (see an impression of state v at the National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.32757.html.

IFF 38 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Départment des Estampes 1939–, “Inventaire du Fonds Français: Graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France); Beraldi 1885–92 25.VI/VI (Henri Beraldi 1885–1892, “Les graveurs du XIXe siecle, guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes”, 12 vols., Paris, Librairie L. Conquet).

The British Museum offers a description of this print in its fourth state:

“Portrait of a man seen half-length, turned to left, holding a carnation in his right hand; after Van Eyck”

(https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3365378&page=1&partId=1&searchText=van%20eyck).

See also the brief description of this print at the Art Institute Chicago:

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/44493/the-man-with-the-pink.

Condition: well-printed near faultless impression in almost pristine condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, folds, holes, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling).

I am selling this masterpiece of 19^th century engraving—possibly the most sensitively executed and technically accomplished engraving of the late 1800s—for the total cost of AU$288 (currently US$196.72/EUR178.29/GBP150.48 at the time of posting this print) 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 incredibly fine engraving where a microscope is needed to see the linework, 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

Timothy Cole's wood engraving after a detail of Botticelli’s "Madonna, Child, and Saint John", 1890

Timothy Cole (1852–1931)

“Detail after Sandro Botticelli’s, ‘Madonna, Child, and Saint John’ in the Louvre, Paris”, 1890, artist’s proof printed by J C Bauer in 1892 in preparation for a limited edition of 125 proof impressions. This particular impression (acquired from the liquidation of the inventory held by Kennedy Galleries) is a proof taken before (or extra to) those signed by Bauer—one of the best printers of wood engravings in New York at the close of the 19th century—and features as an illustration to the famous historical account of art by W.J. Stillman (1909) with notes by Timothy Cole, “Old Italian Masters” (New York, The Century Co.), facing page 161 .

Wood engraving on tissue-thin (Japan) paper with letterpress annotations (lower left) and a fragment of the relief printed diagram of Botticelli’s painting (lower right), backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 42.1 x 27.7 cm; (plate/imageborderline) 20 x 12.4 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (lower right) “T COLE Sc 1890” (indistinct).

Letterpress testimonial text by Bauer in the lower left margin: “This impression, taken by hand on Japan paper, is one of one/ hundred and twenty-five copies printed by me from the original/ wood block in the year 1892. / Professional Proof-printer/ for Wood-engravers."

Handwritten number in blue crayon: (lower right corner) “99”.

For an excellent account of the printing of Cole’s wood-engravings by Bauer, see Scott Ponemone’s blog post, “New School Wood Engravers: Forgotten 19th-Century Celebrities”: http://www.scottponemone.com/new-school-wood-engravers-forgotton-19th-century-celebrities/

Condition: exceptionally well-preserved and well-printed artist’s proof impression with wide margins, backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. Trimmed on the far right diagram, otherwise the print is in excellent condition with inventory pencil notations.

I am selling this very rare proof impression by one of the most famous of the reproductive wood engravers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the total cost of AU$200 (currently US$102.03/EUR87.15/GBP77.02 at the time of posting this print) 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 small masterpiece of wood 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

Claude Lorrain’s etching, “The Two Landscapes”, c1630 (second copy)

Claude Lorrain (aka Claude Gellée; Le Lorrain; Claudio di Lorena) (1600–1682)

“The Two Landscapes” [Les Deux Paysages], c.1630, printed from the original plate, trimmed as two separate prints and published in 1816 by J. McCreery in the “200 Etchings” folio.

Etching on tissue thin laid (China) paper, trimmed as separate images (as published) and backed on a support sheet.

Size: (left sheet trimmed unevenly) 5.6 x 4 cm; (right sheet trimmed unevenly) 5.6 x 5.1 cm.

Signed on plate below the image borderline at the right corner of the right print, but too fragmented to be meaningful. In earlier states the inscription showed “CL. Inv.” (see the BM no. 1973,U.641)

State iii (of iii)

Robert-Dumesnil 40; Blum 42; Knab 114; Duplessis 42; Russell 6; Mannocci 4

The curator of the British Museum advises: “These sketches were etched on the back of a plate”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1346419&partId=1&searchText=claude+lorrain+etching&page=2).

Regarding the plate for these studies (and the others printed by McCreery, Andrew Brink (2013) in “Ink and Light: The Influence of Claude Lorrain’s Etching on England” (McGill Queen’s University Press) offers the following insight:

“The plates of Claude’s etchings disappeared without trace as mysteriously as they had first come to London” (p. 74). From my very unreliable memory, I recall being told in a chat with a “knowledgeable friend” who was told by another “knowledgeable friend” that the plates were discovered as wrecked ballast on a ship (but this information may be far from the truth as my memory is far from strong).

Condition: faultless but trimmed impressions in excellent condition. The two landscape are fragments of a larger single print (see BM no. 1973,U.641) laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

Note: I have showcased these compositions from the same edition previously, but that pair of prints has been sold.

I am selling these very early notational compositions by one of the most famous of all landscape artists for AU$340 (currently US$233.71/EUR211.81/GBP178.78 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 original tiny landscapes by Lorrain, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

These prints have been sold

Charles Louis Kratke’s etching, “Le Bain de Diane”, after Corot

Charles Louis Kratke (aka Charles-Louis Krätke) (1848– 1921)

“Le Bain de Diane” (as titled on plate), late 1800s (?), after the painting, “The Bath of Diana”, 1855, in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art—note that there is also a larger version of this painting, “The Company of Diana, Impression of Morning”, 1855, in the collection of the Musée des Beaux Arts in Bordeaux—by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875), published and printed by Georges Petit in Paris and also published by Charles F Haseltine in Philadelphia.

Etching on cream coloured chine collé (China) on heavy wove paper with wide margins (as published).

Size: (sheet) 61.6 x 81 cm; (plate) 51.5 x 67.5 cm; (chine collé) 50.2 x 65.7 cm; (image borderline) 42.6 x 61.4 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (lower right corner) “COROT”.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “PEINT PAR C. COROT/ CHARLES F HASELTINE. 1416 & 1418, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.”; (centre) IMPRIMERIE GEORGES PETIT, PARIS,/ Le bain de Diane”; (right) GRAVÉ PAR L. KRATKÉ./  Paris, Publié par GEORGES PETIT, 12, Rue Godot de Mauroy.”

Condition: richly inked and strong velvety impression with wide margins (as published). The sheet has traces of wiped printing ink, otherwise it is in good condition for its age and large size.

I am selling this huge and poetically glowing etching of the huntress goddess, Diana, taking a backward splash on the shore of Lake Nemi accompanied by her companions and her hunting dogs all bathed in early morning light, for a total cost of AU$362 (currently US$248.13/EUR224.41/GBP189.02 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 magnificent etching that is so rare that it does not seem to be in any of the major museum collections—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