Two engravings, 1613, by Crispijn de Passe the Elder

Crispijn de Passe the Elder (aka Crispin de Passe; Crispijn van de Passe) (1564–1637)

(Upper image) “Plate 8: Council of the Gods of War” (aka “Concilium Divum belli ...”) and (lower) “Plate 2: Agamemnon Dreams of Jupiter” (aka “Jupiter in somnis Agamemnona…”), 1613, from the series of 24 engraved illustrations to Isaac Hilaire de la Rivière’s (fl.c.1613) account of Homer’s “Iliad” (8^th century BC), “Speculum heroicum principis omnium temporum poëtarum Homeri : id est, argumenta xxiiij librorum Iliados in quibus veri principis imago poëticè, elegantissime exprimitur = les XXIIII livres d'Homere reduict en tables demonstratives figures”, published in Utrecht by Joannem Janssonium (1588–1664) in 1613.

Archive.org offers an online view of this publication with these prints in their context: https://archive.org/details/speculumheroicum00hill/page/n40/mode/1up; https://archive.org/details/speculumheroicum00hill/page/n27/mode/2up.

Engravings on laid paper, each trimmed with a narrow margin around the image borderline (with loss of the text lines below the image) and backed with separate support sheets.

Size: (sheet) 7.4 x 12.4 cm / 7.5 x 12.6 cm: (image borderline) 7.2 x 12.2 cm / 7.2 x 12.3 cm.

Condition: both impressions are strong and in near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing and laid upon separate supports of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this pair of rare engravings by one of the finest engravers of the Dutch Golden Age, for the total cost of AU$364 for the pair (currently US$276.93/EUR231.62/GBP198 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 these small gems of engraving from the beginning of the 1600s, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This pair of engravings has been sold

Charles Courtry & Gustave Greux’s etchings, 1873, after Delacroix

(Upper etching) Charles Jean Louis Courtry (1846–1897)

“Tigre Surpris par un Serpent” (Tiger Surprised by a Snake), 1873, after Eugène Delacroix’s (aka Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix) (1798–1863) painting of the same composition, from the series “of around 60 plates reproducing the paintings formerly in the collection of the British collection of John W Wilson … [accompanying] the catalogue of his sale of 199 paintings” (see BM inv. no. 1877,1013.1767), “Tableaux de premier ordre anciens et modernes composant la galerie de M. John W. Wilson”, printed by François Liénard (fl. c1860s–1880s) and published in the periodical, “L'Art” in Paris.

Etching on buff laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 23.2 x 25.5 cm; (plate) 16.7 x 19.4 cm; (image borderline) 13.5 x 16.9 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) Eug. Delacroix”, pinx.”; (centre) “TIGRE SURPRIS PAR UN SERPENT./ 'Fçois Liénard, Imp. Paris.”; (right) “Ch. Courtry, sc.”.

Beraldi 4; IFF 40

The British Museum offers a description of this print: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1877-1013-1801.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression with margins in near pristine condition.

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(Lower etching) Gustave Greux (aka Gustave Marie Greux) (1838–1919)

“Lion Dévorant un Lapin” (Lion Devouring a Rabbit), c1873, after Eugène Delacroix’s painting of the same composition, from the series, “Tableaux de premier ordre anciens et modernes composant la galerie de M. John W. Wilson”, printed by François Liénard and published in the periodical, “L'Art” in Paris.

Etching on buff laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 23.2 x 25.5 cm; (plate) 17.9 x 20.6 cm; (image borderline) 15.3 x 16.9 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) Eug. Delacroix”, pinx.”; (centre) “LION DÉVORANT UN LAPIN./ 'Fçois Liénard, Imp. Paris.”; (right) “Gustave Greux, sc.”.

The British Museum offers a description of this print: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1877-1013-1861.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression with margins in near pristine condition.

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I am selling this pair of etchings after Delacroix by two of the most famous of the French 19^th century reproductive printmakers, for the total cost of AU$224 for the pair (currently US$172.34/EUR142.17/GBP122.42 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 these technically inventive and graphically strong etchings—note the smooth transition in the choice of marks used to represent the change from foreground to distance—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This pair of etchings has been sold

Maxime Lalanne’s etching, “Rade de Bordeaux (Janvier 1868)”, 1868

Maxime Lalanne (François Antoine Maxime Lalanne) (1827–1886)

“Rade de Bordeaux (Janvier 1868)” (aka “Bordeaux, Effet de Neige”; “Bordeaux, Snow Effect”), 1868, printed by Auguste Delâtre (aka Auguste Marie Delâtre) (1822–1907) and published by Cadart & Luce (fl. 1867–1870/1) as plate 1 for Une Société de Peintres-Graveurs a L'Eau-Forte for the first issue of “L'Illustration Nouvelle” in 1868 in Paris. See an online view of all the prints (including this etching which is the first plate) in this publication offered by Gallica – BnF: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8527596n.r.

Etching on fine laid paper (watermarked) with full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 31.2 x 40.1 cm; (plate) 15.8 x 23.8 cm; (image borderline) 13.3 x 21.5 cm.

Numbered in plate above the image borderline: (right) “1”.

Inscribed in the plate: (lower left beneath the hay) “Lalanne”; (lower left along the wall) “Bordeaux Jer 1868.”

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Maxime Lalanne, del. et sc.”; (centre) “RADE DE BORDEAUX./ (Janvier 1868.)/ CADART & LUCE, Editeurs. Rue Nve des Mathurins, 58, Paris.”; (right) “Imp. Delâtre, Paris.”

State vi (of ix) before later publication (state viii) in Hamerton’s “Etching and
Etchers” (3^rd ed., 1880) in London.

Villet 48 vi (Jeffrey M Villet 2010, “The Complete Prints of Maxime Lalanne”, Washington, art@home fine prints, [n.p.] cat. no. 48, state VI); Beraldi 50; IFF 18.

See descriptions of this print at the British Museum; National Gallery of Art; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1872-0511-86; https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.70349.html; https://art.famsf.org/maxime-lalanne/rade-de-bordeaux-janvier-1868-19633031900.

Condition: a well-printed impression with generously wide margins. Beyond small tears (approx. 1 cm) to the lower margin, marks to the upper margin and surface dustiness, the sheet is in a good condition for its age.

I am selling this etching described by the printer (Auguste Delâtre) as “a little masterpiece” and evaluated by the writer/artist/publisher, Philip Gilbert Hamerton, in “Etching and Etchers” (3^rd edition), with the proposal that “[f]ew modern etchings have been more thoroughly successful than this” (p. 160), for the total cost of AU$247 (currently US$190.06/EUR156.58/GBP134.80 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 masterwork of etching—note how convincing Lalanne has been in suggesting the effect of lightly piled snow on the dockside and blurred details fading into the wintery grey sky—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 

Käthe Kollwitz’s etching, “Woman with Folded Arms”, 1898

Käthe Kollwitz (aka [née] Käthe Schmidt) (1867–1945)

“Woman with Folded Arms” (“Frau mit übereinandergelegten”), 1898, published posthumously by Johanna and Bernhard von der Becke (fl.1958–1972) with the Von der Becke's three-line Berlin-Halensee blindstamp (see Iris Schmeisser’s account of the publication history of Kollwitz’s prints offered by the MOMA: https://www.moma.org/s/ge/collection_ge/artist/artist_id-20099_role-3_thumbs.html).

Etching, drypoint, aquatint and sandpaper printed in a warm black ink on heavy cream wove paper with wide margins and the thee-line Von der Becke blindstamp (“A. v. d. Becke/ Kunstverlag/ Berlin-Halensee”) at lower-right corner of the impression.

Size: (sheet) 45.7 x 37.8 cm: (plate) 29 x 23 cm; (image borderline); 28.1 x 22.1 cm.

State vi (of vi)

Klipstein 41 VI (August Klipstein 1955, “Käthe Kollwitz, Verzeichnis des graphischen Werkes”, Bern, Klipstein & Co, pp. 51–52, cat. no. 41 VI); Knesebeck 43 (Alexandra von dem Knesebeck 2001, “Käthe Kollwitz, Werkverzeichnis der Graphik”, Bern, Kornfeld).

The British Museum offers a description of this print in its third state: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1949-0411-3939.

Condition: a richly inked, strong and well-printed impression with generously wide margins as published. Apart from thinning verso where there was once mounting tape, the sheet is in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, stains or foxing.

I am selling this superb etching showing an extraordinary use of sandpaper to add gritty texture to the plate—see the area below the woman’s clasped hands—and the amazing treatment of shadows on the left side of the plate where a broad sweep of parallel lines gives an emotional tenor and visual ambiguity to what may be seen, for the total cost of AU$774 (currently US$596.76/EUR492.93/GBP422.74 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 remarkable etching exemplifying Kollwitz’s creative spark of invention to project an aura of presence and a suggestion of introspective reflection to the portrayed woman, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Virgil Solis’ woodcut, “The Suicide of Saul”, c1560

Virgil Solis (1514–1562)

“The Suicide of Saul” (TIB title) (aka “Death of Saul”), c1560, from the series of 220 woodcuts published by Sigmund Feierabend (aka Sigmund Feyerabend; Sigismund Feyrabend) (1528–1590), printed by David Zöpfel (aka David Zephelius) (fl.c1555–1563) and Johann Rasch (fl.1556–1562) in Frankfurt am Main in “Biblische Figuren des Alten vnd Newen Testaments: gantz künstlich gerissen / durch den weitberhümpten Vergilium Solis zu Nürnberg.”

This woodcut illustrates versus 4–5 in “The Book of Samuel I” [Shmuel 1], chapter 31: “Then Saul said to his armour-bearer, ‘Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.’ But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2031%3A4-5&version=ESV)

Woodcut with a separately printed woodcut border on laid paper trimmed with a small margin with Fraktur letterpress text verso.

Size: (sheet) 11.8 x 15.8 cm

Monogrammed in plate within the image borderline: (on shield at lower left) “VS”.

TIB 19.1.54 (316) (Jane S Peters [ed.] 1987, “The Illustrated Bartsch: German Masters of the Sixteenth Century: Virgil Solis: Intaglio Prints and Woodcuts”, vol. 19 [Part 1], p. 310, cat. no. 1.54 [316]).

Pitts Theological Library (Emery) offers a description of this print: http://www.pitts.emory.edu/dia/image_details.cfm?ID=7478.

Condition: a richly inked impression printed with slightly uneven pressure with a narrow margin around the strapwork border in excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling.

I am selling this bold composition showing both Saul and armour-bearer both falling onto their swords—note how the Saul’s sword aligns with the angle of a distant tree to create a diagonal line through the composition and how the angle of this continued line of sword and tree is parallel to the angle of a lance in the right corner of the design—for the total cost of AU$232 (currently US$180.27/EUR147.91/GBP127.23 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 woodcut from the mid-1500s with an equally interesting strapwork border—printed from a separate plate—designed to give importance and gravitas to the portrayed scene from the Bible—and no doubt to separate the illustration from the surrounding text—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.