Charles Jacque, “Les Liseurs”, 1844

Charles Jacque (also known as Charles Émile Jacque) (1813–1894)

“Les Liseurs” (The Readers) Also known as “Liseurs (effet de lumière)” and “Chanteurs Nocturnes”, 1844

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching on wove paper with wide margins. Printed in Paris by Auguste Delâtre (also known as Auguste Marie Delâtre, 1822–1907) in 1853 (dated by the period the printer occupied the inscribed address). The print is numbered “5” from a series of etchings by Jacque executed between 1843 and 1845 and published by the Alliance des Arts (Marchant), bearing the ink stamp “555” in the lower-right corner. Although Guiffrey’s (1868) catalogue of Jacque’s prints does not record this specific lettered state, Guiffrey notes that in the second state, engraved lines were added to the figure (see pp. 38–39).

The impression is richly inked and well-printed, showing slight signs of plate wear to the more distant face. The sheet remains in near pristine condition—entirely free of tears, holes, folds, or significant stains.

British Museum Description:

“The readers: a man seen half-length, standing in the dark, his face lit by candlelight, reading a letter and smiling; another figure reads over his shoulder; finished state, with hatching on the neck and the forehead of the main figure, with production and publication detail. 1844” (BM no. 1889,0608.24).

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 32 x 24.6 cm
• Platemark: 14.6 x 14.5 cm
• Image borderline: 12 x 12 cm

Plate Lettering:

• Below the image (left): “5. (Alliance des Arts) Merchant, r. de Rivoli, 140 / [scratched signature] CH. JACQUE”
• Below the image (right of centre): “Imp Aug Delatre Rue de la Bucherie, 6”

References:

•  Guiffrey 20 (J.-J. Guiffrey, “L’Oeuvre de Ch. Jacque: Catalogue de ses Eaux-Fortes et Pointes Sèches,” 1868, Paris, Lemaire, pp. 38–39, cat. no. 20 [Note: this lettered state is undocumented])
• British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1889-0608-24  
• IFF 64 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: HUMBLOT–JYG,” vol. 11, 1960, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, p. 103, cat. no. 64)— https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5489301d/f115.item    
• Beraldi 20 (Henri Beraldi, “Les Graveurs du Dix-Neuvième Siècle: GUÉRIN–LACOSTE,” vol. VIII, 1889, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 177, cat. no. 20)

Price & Shipping:

AU$254 (approximately US$179.78 / €154.83 / £133.70), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you’re interested in this dramatically bold 19th-century depiction of candlelight illuminating two figures reading—note in particular the clusters of parallel strokes above the flare of the flame, suggesting not only the three-dimensional form of the ball of light but also connoting a sense of almost atmospheric turbidity as it fades into darkness—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I’ll gladly provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

Ludwig Wilhelm Wittich, “Cross-Stitch Chart, No. 4032”, c.1830

Ludwig Wilhelm Wittich (1773–1832)—designer and publisher of the printed grid charts known as “Berlin Woolwork Patterns” (see https://berlinwoolwork.tumblr.com/theprints)

“Cross-Stitch Chart, No. 4032”, circa 1830

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching coloured with hand-painted gouache/opaque watercolour on heavy grey card, published in Berlin by Ludwig Wilhelm Wittich.

The design features a Boteh (Paisley) motif surrounded by vibrant floral arabesques set against a dramatic solid black ground. It is inscribed as number 55 (in the plate) of the embroidery templates known as Berlin Woolwork Patterns. Each square on the copperplate grid was painstakingly hand-coloured by workshop artisans to serve as a guide for cross-stitch or needlepoint embroidery.

The colours are vividly rich and have remained unfaded, painted with skill and care. A contemporary pen-and-ink inventory reference "M2." is inscribed in sanguine ink at the upper left corner. The top margin displays the original hand-painted colour key blocks used by the artisan during production. The verso contains minor, historical handwritten pencil notations. The sheet is in excellent condition with no tears, holes, or significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet (unevenly trimmed): 39.1 x 30.3 cm
• Plate: 30.1 x 28.6 cm
• Outer image borderline: 27.1 x 27.5 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Upper right corner: “4032”
• Left side at centre: “198”
• Lower left corner: “15.”
• Below the image at centre: “Berlin bei L.W. Wittich. Behren St, N^o: 53.”

Price & Shipping:

AU$369 (approximately US$260.10 / €224.75 / £194), inclusive of worldwide express shipping. Please note that import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this exceptionally rare piece of design history—an amazing hand-painted colour chart printed on an etched grid meticulously crafted as a guide for cross-stitch embroidery—please contact me directly at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. A secure, itemised PayPal invoice will be generated to complete your purchase smoothly.

This print has been sold

Marcel Roux, “L'Échouée”, (published 1923)

Marcel Roux (also known as Barthélemy Auguste Marcel Roux) (1878–1922)

“L'Échouée” (also known as “The Stranded Woman”, or “Washed up”), pre-1914 (posthumously published 1923)

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching printed in brown ink on buff-coloured Lafuma wove paper (with partial “47” mill/batch watermark) with margins as issued. It was published in Paris by Albert Morancé in the French art and graphic arts quarterly review, “Byblis, Miroir des Arts du Livre et de l'Estampe,” in 1923.

The impression is strong and well-printed—near faultless! The sheet is in pristine condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or signs of handling.

Art Historical Insight

This specific print was chosen posthumously from the artist’s vast oeuvre to anchor a major retrospective tribute, summarising the thematic driving forces behind his creative vision. The unsettling image of a woman washed up on a shoreline, shadowed by ambiguous, dark forms beyond, epitomises the profound helplessness and spiritual despair Roux perceived in the moral decay of pre-war society. The striking care taken in modelling the woman's figure avoids simple idealisation; instead, this strict adherence to raw anatomical detail is directly attributable to Roux's early professional training as a medical illustrator documenting autopsies and anatomical specimens.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 22.5 x 28.1 cm
• Plate: 16.9 x 23.5 cm

References:

• Adventures in the Print Trade: https://adventuresintheprinttrade.blogspot.com/2011/08/another-side-of-marcel-roux.html
• Godart, Justin, “Marcel Roux: Graveur Lyonnais,” published in “Byblis, Miroir des Arts du Livre et de l'Estampe,” Paris, 1923

Price & Shipping:

AU$273 (approximately US$192.43 / €166.28 / £143.53), inclusive of worldwide express shipping. Please note that import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this rare stand-alone etching—a powerful image that beautifully crystallises the artist’s unique vision of spiritual despair—please contact me directly at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. A secure, itemised PayPal invoice will be generated to complete your purchase smoothly.

(Attrib.) Gregor Fentzel, “Midday”, c. 1650, after Adriaen Collaert and Maarten de Vos

(Attributed to) Gregor Fentzel (also known as Gregorius Fentzel) (active 1640–1660)

“Afternoon” (also known as “Middag”), circa 1650

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving on fine laid paper with wide margins, fully backed with a support sheet of archival-quality washi paper. This is the second plate from the celebrated four-part series “The Four Times of the Day”, published in Nuremberg by Paulus Fürst (active 1608–1666). It is engraved in the same direction after Adriaen Collaert’s original print (circa 1587–1588). As with Collaert’s original engraving, the composition is based on the related preparatory drawing by Maarten de Vos (aka Maarten de Vos; Maerten de Vos) (1532–1603) preserved in the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris.

This is a strong and well-printed impression. The sheet has been expertly stabilised on its backing sheet. There is professional restoration work to an old tear along the vertical centre-fold line, as well as to abrasions in the German text below the image. Light, even age-staining is visible throughout the margins, and a previous collector’s notations on the verso show through slightly in the lower-left margin.

Iconographic Descriptions

• The British Museum describes the composition: “Sol flying in the clouds above a midday landscape with a grand house and formal garden with fountain and peacock and scenes of harvesting and youthful figures resting under the shade of a tree” (BM 1901,0611.79).
• The Rijksmuseum inventories the scene as: “Afternoon. Allegory with Apollo in the clouds as Meridies, the personification of the afternoon. Below on earth, activities related to the life stage of youth or young adulthood: working the land and lovers in a garden. Part of the series of the four times of the day” (Rijksmuseum RP-P-OB-5121).

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 25.2 x 33.5 cm
• Plate: 21.8 x 27.1 cm
• Image borderline: 19 x 26.3 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Below the image in two columns of two lines: “Den Mittag laße dir des Tages Arbeit theilen, / mach mit ihr Stillestand. Was nit ruht unterweilen, // [Es da]uret selten lang. Der Tag es ſelbſt bekennt: / [Es iſt dur]ſchattet ex, ie heiſſer daß es brennt.”

English Translation:

“Let midday divide the day's work for you; make with it a standstill. What does not rest once in a while, rarely lasts long. The day itself confesses: It is cast in shadow, the hotter it burns.”

References:

• Hollstein Dutch 1455 (copy e)
• New Hollstein Dutch 1364

Price & Shipping:

AU$322 (approximately US$226.35 / €195.63 / £168.91), inclusive of worldwide express shipping. Please note that import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this rare 17th-century engraving exemplifying the mastery of the Netherlandish school, please contact me directly at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. A secure, itemised PayPal invoice will be generated to complete your purchase smoothly.

This print has been sold