Pierre
Bulliard (aka Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard) (c1742–1793)
“La Savonaire Officinale” (aka Common Soapwart), 1780, plate 257
illustration to “Plante Médicinale de la France” (aka “Herbier de la France ou
collection complète des plantes indigènes de ce royaume ; avec leurs détails
anatomiques, leurs propriétés, et leurs usages en médecine”), vol. III, engraved,
printed and published by Pierre Bulliard in Paris. (Note that this is one of
the earliest books botanical books printed in colour—without hand–colouring in
watercolour.)
Engraving coloured
by the painstaking and rare Le Blon-Gauthier process (i.e. these impressions
are not coloured by watercolour or retouched by hand, but rather the prints
were created through the superimposition of up to four plates inked separately
by the technique called "à la poupée" for each colour) with full margins
and binding hoes (as published) and backed with a support sheet.
Size: (sheet)
33 x 24 cm; (plate) 23 x 17.1 cm; (image borderline) 17.5 x 15.5 cm.
Lettered on
plate above the image borderline: (centre) “PLANTE MEDICINALE DE LA FRANCE.”;
(right) “PL. 257.”
Indexed on
plate within the image borderline with letters from “A” to “H”.
Lettered on
plate below the image borderline with nine lines of text: (centre) “LA
SAVONAIRE OFFICINALE. FI. FR. … d’usage en Medecine.”
See description
of this print at Medic@ (Banque
d'images et de portraits): www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/histmed/image?med08338x03x0057
Condition: Near
faultless impression of this rare print with fine colouring by the Le
Blon-Gauthier method in excellent/museum quality condition (i.e. there are no
tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing). The sheet is
laid on a support of archival
(millennium quality) washi paper.
I am selling
this beautifully executed engraving coloured by the remarkable Le Blon-Gauthier
method for the total cost of AU$198 (currently US$138.22/EUR122.35/GBP109.53 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 rare engraving of great historical importance in
the development of colour prints, 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
This rare print
should make printmakers sit up straight—or at least do a small nod of
appreciation for Bulliard’s skill and perseverance to personally ink and print
all the plates (this is plate 257) in his publication AND in an edition. What
make Bulliard’s enterprise so amazing is that the technique he used to create
each print involves at least three engraved plates—perhaps four—each inked with
different colours and printed so that they are superimposed upon each other to
create the full-colour print.
According to
Wikipedia, this plant, the Saponaria Officinalis has a variety of uses: “…
depurative, diuretic, choleretic and worming. It is used against the rheumatism
and gout, against certain skin diseases and as an expectorant for the
affections of the oral cavity (tonsillitis, mouth ulcers, etc.). Decoction
Saponaire applied to the face effectively fights against skin diseases such as
the acne. The Romans put in the bath to cure itching. Leper colonies used it to
clean the wounds of lepers. … As the timber Panama, flowering tops or rhizomes
could replace soap to wash delicate clothing susceptible to fading. It is also
used to clean black aprons. This is because it contains saponin, a substance
that has the property of lather like soap, that officinale Saponaire also bears
the name ‘soap grass’, ‘soap ditch’, ‘soap dish’, ‘laurel bloomed’, ‘grass
woman.’ When dried and cleaned, the roots can be used in the manufacture of a
once qu'utilisaient powder residents to wash their hands. Mixed with soda, it
could also scouring and bleaching wool and lace pale, hence its other name ‘grass
fuller.’” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponaria_officinalis)
