William Hogarth, “Time Smoking a Picture”, 1761

William Hogarth (1697–1764)
“Time Smoking a Picture,” 1761

Technical Details & Condition:
Etching, engraving and aquatint on wove paper with full margins as issued. Published in the esteemed 1822 Heath Edition of Hogarth's works—the final edition printed from Hogarth's original engraved plates.

The Art Gallery of NSW (Australia) provides insightful commentary on this print:
“This is Hogarth's most consciously learned image, using quotations from classical texts to support his challenge to the gentlemanly taste for old and darkened Italian paintings. From the 1730s onwards, he railed against the taste for dubious old master paintings authenticated by dealers and 'dark masters'. Time's scythe pierces the canvas, making the point that time is not a beautifier but a destroyer.” (https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/8658/#about)

This is a superb, nearly faultless impression—richly inked and crisply printed. The sheet, with its generously wide margins, is in pristine condition considering its large size and age—free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, or signs of handling.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 65.8 x 50.5 cm
• Platemark: 24.5 x 18.6 cm
• Outer image borderline: 22 x 17.4 cm

Lettering on Plate:
• On the edge of the framed painting: “Crates_ [Greek inscription in two lines translated: ‘Time is not a clever craftsman, for he makes everything more obscure’] See Spectator/ Vol: II, Page 83.”
• Lower right: “As Statues moulder into Worth. P: W:” — initials of Paul Whitehead, the satirical poet and Hogarth’s contemporary.
• Lower centre: “To Nature and your Self appeal, / Nor learn of others what to feel_. Anon:”

References:
• Paulson 208 III/III (Ronald Paulson, Hogarth's Graphic Works, 1965, Yale University Press, pp. 173–74, cat. no. 208)
• British Museum (first state impression): https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1857-0509-15
• Art Gallery of NSW (preliminary drawing): https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/7624/

Price & Shipping:
AU$318 (approximately US$223.20 / €188.83 / £163.99), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this powerful allegorical warning against valuing artworks based solely on the effects of time—featuring the personification of Time as a winged figure blowing smoke onto a painting to simulate patina, with his scythe “distressing” the surface while seated upon a broken sculpture (possibly a fake Greek kouros)—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

Enea Vico, (right fragment) “Statues of Minerva and a Woman”, 1541

Enea Vico (1523–1567)
(Right fragment) “Statues of Minerva and a Woman,” 1541

Technical Details & Condition:
Engraving on laid paper, trimmed around the right figure of a larger composition (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_V-8-52), depicting two archaic sculptures—the left figure representing the goddess Minerva—and backed with a support sheet.

The artist’s name is inscribed within the plate, featuring his initials “E.V” on the tablet at right, along with the publisher’s initials “A. S.” for Antonio Salamanca (1478–1562), and the date of publication, “1541,” lettered along the lower edge of the sheet.

The impression is strong and well-printed. The sheet, as a fragment of a larger composition, shows some restored losses along the edges and minor stains, consistent with its age and fragmentary nature.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 23.5 x 90 cm

References:
• TIB 30.44 (John Spike [ed.], The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Masters of the Sixteenth Century: Enea Vico, vol. 30, 1985, New York, Abaris Books, p. 61, cat. no. 44)
• The British Museum: Same fragment of the larger composition — https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_Ii-5-76

Price & Shipping:
AU$288 (approximately US$200.01 / €169.59 / £147.61), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this rare 1541 engraving of an ancient sculpture—possibly representing Urania, the muse of Astronomy, though her defining attributes of a celestial globe and compass are now lost—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

This print has been sold 

Pieter van der Heyden, “Autumn”, 1566

Pieter van der Heyden (also known as Pietro Martini, Petrus Merecinus, Petrus á Merica, and Peter Mericenys) (c. 1530–1584)

“Autumn”, 1566

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving on laid paper, trimmed around the image border and backed with a support sheet. This is a lifetime impression—evidenced by the quality of line and the absence of any wear to the printing plate—from the series “The Four Seasons” (also known as “Compartimentorum quod vocant multiplex genus lepidissimis historumque fabellis ornatum”), published in Antwerp by Hieronymus Cock (c. 1517/18–1570). The Rijksmuseum describes this series as: “Depictions of the four seasons: autumn (Bacchus). One sheet from a series consisting of a title page and 15 of the 16 sheets with cartouches depicting biblical and mythological scenes in a frame of scrollwork and grotesques” (inv. no. RP-P-1952-428). It follows the design by Frans Floris (also known as Frans Floris de Vriendt, 1519/20–1570).

The impression is strong, well-printed, and nearly faultless. The sheet is in pristine condition, free of tears, holes, folds, or stains.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 6.5 x 9.9 cm

References:
• The Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200455012
• Hollstein 120–136 (Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts c. 1450–1700)
• Riggs 101 (Hieronymus Cock, Printmaker and Publisher)
• Title page of the series held by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1950-0520-398

Price & Shipping:
AU$316 (approximately US$220.45 / €186.95 / £162.24), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this small, rare, and jewel-like engraving—a superb example of Northern Renaissance grotesque and strapwork ornamentation—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

This print has been sold

(attrib.) Tosa Mitsusuke, “Small Bird on a Flowering Plum Tree”, circa 1700

(Attributed to) Tosa Mitsusuke (土佐光祐) (1675–1710)—child of Tosa Hirochika—or an artist from his circle

The attribution to Tosa Mitsusuke is based on advice from the dealer from whom I originally purchased the painting many years ago, and the mention of this artist in a Google translation of the accompanying text.

Based on the measurement details given in the inscription at upper right (approximately 272.7 x 18.8 cm) this small painting may be a copy of a painting conforming to those proportions.

“Small Bird on a Flowering Plum Tree”, circa 1700

Technical Details & Condition:

Ink painting on fine washi paper, backed on what appears to be an early support sheet that is unevenly trimmed. The composition follows the tanzaku (短冊) format—a traditional narrow vertical shape originating in the Edo period (1603–1868). This format was often used for poetry, such as haiku, and designed for display on wooden house pillars to inspire reflection and hope.

The style of this painting exhibits refined touches characteristic of the Tosa school—most notably the precise, sensitively drawn outlines and the decorative flattening of forms.
The artwork remains reasonably unfaded for its age, and the sheet is in fair to good condition, free of tears, folds, or significant stains. However, the old mounting glue partly shines through on the front of the sheet, and the double layers of backing sheets are partially separating at the upper left corner.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 28.1x 19.6 cm
• Image borderline: 27.8 x 7.9 cm

Inscriptions at upper right:

• Medium: 絹本 (Silk on paper)
• Dimensions: Length nine shaku six sun, width six sun nine bu (approximately 272.7 x 18.8 cm)
• Artist's Title: Tosa Sho-goi Danjo Shochu Fujiwara Mitsuyoshi（土佐正五位弹正少忠藤原光芳）
• Year: Fire Monkey Year, Autumn

Price & Shipping:

AU$296 (approximately US$207.87 / €175.67 / £151.63), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this small, rare, and exceptionally beautiful painting—an exquisite example of early 18th-century Japanese art—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.