Jan Sadeler I, “Noah Building the Ark”, 1586 (2nd copy)

Jan Sadeler I (also known as Johannes Sadeler and Johann Sadeler) (1550–1600)

“Noah Building the Ark” (also known as “Construction of the Ark”), 1586

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving on laid paper (with watermark) with small margins.

This is twelfth from the series of fifteen plates (including the title plate; New Hollstein 41–55), “The Story of the Family of Seth” (also known as “Bonorum et Malorum Consensio” or “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”), after a lost drawing by Maarten de Vos (also known as Marten de Vos and Maerten de Vos) (1532–1603), published by Jan Sadeler I in Antwerp.

It is an impression from the second of two states, with the addition of the plate number (“XII”) at the centre of the upper edge. As inscribed in the plate (“Genes; cap: 6.”), the scene depicts Chapter 6 of the Book of Genesis, where Noah follows divine instructions to build an ark (see verses 14–16). 

The impression is strong, crisp, and well-printed—near faultless. Aside from a small mark left of centre and another in the sky at upper left, the sheet is in excellent condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 21.6 x 28.5 cm
• Platemark: 20.4 x 27.1 cm
• Image borderline: 19.1 x 27 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Upper edge at centre: “XII”
• Along lower edge within the image border (from left to right): (on anvil):“Sadelerus / auct; scal”; (centre) “Genes; cap: 6.”; (right) “M. de vos figur:”
• Below the image in two columns of Latin: “Nec mora continuo exequitur Noe iussa tonantis / Materies abiegnus erat fortissimus asser. // Sic qui feruenti Christum veneratur amore, / Permanet incolumis curis neq[ue] subiacet ullis”

References:

• TIB 70. 040 S2 (Isabelle de Ramaix, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 70, Part 1 [Supplement], 1999, Abaris Books, p. 61); Nagler 1835 1835–52, no. 20; Le Blanc, no. 40; Wurzbach, no. 9.12; Hollstein 1980, vol. 21, no. 40; Edquist, p. 14, no. 18b; Ramaix 1992, no. 29
• Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF): https://www.academiacolecciones.com/estampas/inventario.php?id=C-47-010a
• Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200247628
• British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1959-0221-11-12

Price & Shipping:

AU$306 (approximately US$214.68 / €187.18 / £162.18), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

To acquire this graphically powerful and superbly executed engraving by one of the most renowned of the Flemish old masters, please contact oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. Secure payment is handled via PayPal invoice for a smooth, protected transaction.

This print has been sold 

Stefano della Bella, “Dancing Satyrs”, c. 1645

Stefano della Bella (1610–1664)

“Dancing Satyrs”, circa 1645 (1643–1648)

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching with pale plate tone on fine wove (China) paper with small margins. This is the final plate from the series of six etchings, “Animali” (also known as “Six Sujets d’Animaux”). Preliminary studies for this etching and the other prints in the series are held in the collections of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence (inv. no. 7973 F), the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (inv. no. 43722), and Windsor Castle, Windsor (inv. nos: 4572, 4662a, 4662b, 4659, and 4611b) (see Rijksmuseum explanation: inv. no. RP-P-OB-35.000).

The plate is numbered “162” below the image at centre. While I am unable to identify the specific folio series associated with this plate number, and De Vesme/Massar [1971] do not describe it, the addition or amendment of plate numbers is not uncommon in later editions, of which this print appears to be a part.

This impression is crisp and well-printed, with production details nearly completely erased. There are glue remnants from mounting along the upper edge (verso). Otherwise, the sheet is in excellent condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, or foxing.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 15.7 x 14.4 cm
• Platemark: 14.3 x 13.5 cm
• Image borderline (diameter): 13.5 cm

Plate Lettering (below the image borderline):

• Faintest trace at left: [“SDBella In. et Fe.”]
• Centre: “162”

References:

• De Vesme/Massar 719 (Alexandre de Vesme & Phyllis D. Massar, “Stefano della Bella. Catalogue Raisonné”, 1971, New York, Collectors Editions, p. 113, cat. no. 719; plate p. 136, cat. no. 719)
• Jombert (Della Bella) 128-6 (Charles Antoine Jombert, “Essai d'un catalog de l'oeuvre d'Etienne de la Belle”, 1772, Paris, p. 132, cat. nos. 128-6)
• Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200155739
• British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_X-5-149

Price & Shipping:

AU$278 (approximately US$194.91 / €170.39 / £147.74), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

To acquire this lively, sparkling etching full of movement and glistening light, please contact oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. Secure payment is handled via PayPal invoice for a smooth, protected transaction.

Workshop of Georg Husner, “De Sex Alis Cherubin”, 1495

Workshop of Georg Husner (active 1479–1505)

“De Sex Alis Cherubin” (The Six-Winged Cherubin), 1495

Technical Details & Condition:

Woodcut (recto) with Latin letterpress text (verso) on fine incunabula-era laid paper leaf with full margins as issued. The verso has brown ink annotations by an early contemporary hand.

The leaf was printed by Georg Husner in Strassburg, dated December 18, 1495. It was published during the incunabula period as a key full-page illustration to the second part of the Opuscula (small theological works) attributed to Saint Bonaventure (circa 1221–1274).

The verso features Latin late-medieval Gothic incunabula letterpress text titled, “De sex alis cherubin” (On the six wings of the Cherub). The woodcut on recto serves as a complex spiritual mnemonic map: the six wings and thirty distinct feathers represent the virtues, mental purities, and steps of confession necessary for the soul to fly to God. While historically credited to Bonaventure, the text is now widely assigned to the scholastic philosopher, theologian, and poet Alanus de Insulis (also known as Alain de Lille) (circa 1128–1202/03).

This is a superbly strong, crisp impression. Aside from minor surface toning and faint handling marks, the sheet is in a remarkable state of preservation.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 29.5 x 20 cm
• Woodcut Image: 22.5 x 14.5 cm

References:

• Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke: GW 4648 (https://portail.biblissima.fr/ark:/43093/edata7e083622878204b45efaafbdfde0483c1d0d36b6)
• British Museum Catalogue: BMC I:153 (Printer of the 1483 Jordanus de Quedlinburg / Georg Husner)

Price & Shipping:

AU$483 (approximately US$339.81 / €295.09 / £255.39), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

To purchase this museum-quality 15th-century woodcut, please contact oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. Secure payment is handled via PayPal invoice for a seamless transaction.

This print has been sold