Philips
Galle (Philippus Gallaeus; Philippe Galle)
(1537–1612)
“Ostrich
Hunt”, c.1578, plate 62 from the series of 104 plates, “Venationes Ferarum,
Avium, Piscium” (aka “Hunting Parties” [TIB title]), after the design by Jan
van der Straet (aka Joannes Stradanus; Ioannes Stradanus) (1523–1605), published
in Antwerp by Philips Galle; see Van der Straet’s ink and wash drawing/design
for this engraving (in reverse) held by the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.29532.
Engraving on fine laid paper with the watermark, “High
Crown with Cross and Star (small)” (Meder
31), trimmed with a narrow margin around the image borderline with loss of the
text line below the borderline.
Size:
(sheet) 20.5 x 29.9 cm; (image borderline) 20.1 x 29.4 cm.
Inscribed
in plate within the image borderline: (lower left) “Iohannes Stradanus inuentor.”
A
lifetime impression based on the quality of line showing no sign of wear to the
printing plate and the German watermark, “High Crown with Cross and Star
(small)” (Meder 31)—note that this watermark may be seen on impressions of
Albrecht Dürer’s “Landscape with Cannon”, 1518 (see https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/43364/).
TIB
5601.104:25 (Arno Dolders [ed.] 1987, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish
Artists: Philips Galle”, vol. 56, Supplement, New York, Abaris Books, p. 425,
cat. no. [5601].104:25); New Hollstein Dutch 445 (Marjolein Leesberg [comp.]
2008, “Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts ca. 1450–1700:
Cranach–Drusse”, vol. 6, Amsterdam, Sound and Vision, cat. no. 445).
The British
Museum offers the following description of this print (with the intact text
line): “Plate numbered 62, Ostrich Hunt; in the foreground, three huntsmen on
horseback, armed with spears and aided by dogs, close in on ostrich; beyond,
mounted horsemen and dogs come from left and right, pursuing the ostriches
towards a ditch into which they are seen to fall” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1957-0413-106).
Condition:
a well-printed but slightly pale impression with small margins around the image
borderline in a near pristine condition for its considerable age with no tears,
holes, folds or stains.
I am
selling this remarkable engraving of a somewhat distressing (at least to my
eyes) hunting scene for ostriches by turbaned men armed with lances on
horseback and accompanied by their hunting dogs in the exotic landscape of the Barbary
Coast, North Africa—note the date palms on both sides of the composition and
the curious tower-like building with a ball-like structure on top in the far distance—for
the total cost of AU$333 (currently US$220.24/EUR201.37/GBP171.85 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 historically interesting engraving showing the technique of hunting—a technique that I see as more about trapping than killing,
although no doubt that the feathers of the ostrich was a key reason for hunting
them—involving chasing animals towards a trench (as may be seen in the distance),
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
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