Roelant Roghman, “Deer in the Hague Forest”, c. 1640–1652

Roelant Roghman (aka Roeland Roghman) (1627–1692)

“Deer in the Hague Forest” (Dutch: “Herten in het Haagse Bos”), circa 1640–1652

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching on fine buff-coloured laid paper with wide margins. This is the final plate (Plate 6) in the series of six plates, “The Woods of the Hague” (Dutch: “Gezichten in het Haagse Bos”), published in Amsterdam by Pieter Nolpe.

The impression is from the third and final state (of three), showing the plate number “6” inscribed twice. It is richly inked, crisp, and evenly printed—a faultless impression. The sheet remains in near-pristine condition for its age, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 25 x 39 cm
• Platemark: 20.6 x 26.4 cm
• Image borderline: 20.3 x 26.1 cm

In-Plate numbering:

• Lower left corner: “6”
• Lower edge at right-of-centre: “6”

Reference:

• TIB 5.6 (40) (Walter L Strauss & Franklin Robinson [Eds.], “The Illustrated Bartsch”, 1979, vol. 5, p. 66, cat. no. 6 [40])
• Hollstein Dutch 38.III (Dieuwke de Hoop Scheffer (comp.), “Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts ca. 1450–1700”, 1978, Amsterdam, Van Gendt & Co., p. 88, cat. no. 38. III)
• British Museum: Museum No. 1882,0114.38 (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1882-0114-38)
• Rijksmuseum: Object No. RP-P-H-R-94 (https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200401536)

Price & Shipping:

AU$338 (approx. US$235.02 / €205.38 / £174.98), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if applicable) are the buyer’s responsibility.

This superbly rich impression captures a rare view of the town forest near The Hague—created during the Dutch Golden Age, a period renowned for its remarkable achievements in art, science, and culture. Roghman was a close friend of Rembrandt, and this etching exemplifies the masterful landscape tradition of that era. To acquire this marvellous example of Dutch Golden Age etching, please contact oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless and protected transaction.

This print has been soldt

Roelant Roghman’s etching, “River and Rocks”, 1650–83

Roelant Roghman (aka Roeland Roghman) (c1620–1686)

“River and Rocks” (Le quartier de rocher) (TIB title), 1650–83, plate 2 from the series of eight plates, “Views of Italy” (TIB) (aka “Tyrolean landscapes” [Rijksmuseum]), published in Augsburg in the edition by Melchior Küsel (1626-83) or the later edition by Jeremias Wolff (1663–1724). (Note: I am unable to determine which edition this impression is from because the text line with the critical inscribed plate number that acts as a guide to the edition has been trimmed off but the impression is very crisp suggesting an early printing.)

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed unevenly along the image borderline and lined with a support sheet.

Size: (support-sheet) 31 x 40.8 cm; (unevenly trimmed sheet) 12.9 x 24.9 cm

Condition: a crisp and well-inked impression, trimmed along the image borderline and re-margined on a support sheet. The print is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or foxing).

TIB 5 (4).26 (32) (Walter L Strauss & Franklin Robinson [Eds.] 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 5, p. 39); Bartsch IV.32.26; Hollstein 26

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“View of a mountain landscape with rocks in Tyrol. In the foreground two shepherds with a dog. On the water a goat and in the background a horse-drawn full load cart. Print from a series of eight prints with Tyrolean landscapes.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.480369); see also the description at the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1623746&partId=1&searchText=roghman+mountain&page=1

See auction estimates for Roghman’s etchings: https://www.invaluable.com/artist/roghman-roelandt-8ychnlnnco/sold-at-auction-prices/

I am selling this superb impression of an extremely rare print from the time of Rembrandt—Roghman was even one of Rembrandt’s good friends—for AU$338 (currently US$269.32/EUR220.66/GBP195.41 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost. 

If you are interested in purchasing this spectacular etching—one of Roghman’s masterpieces—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

One of the interesting aspects of scanning prints like this is that tiny details are revealed that might otherwise go unnoticed. For instance, the seated figure featured in the foreground at right is not just compositional staffage (i.e. a figure sitting there for no deep and meaningful reason). This figure is an artist drawing! Now that I see what the figure is “doing” the meaning of the whole composition changes. I now see the image in terms of being like a visual essay expressing Roghman’s vision of the sublime rather than “just another rocky landscape.” My change in thinking is generated by the diminutive size of the artist compared to the gargantuan boulder that the artist faces and what seems to me to be a very intentional arrangement of the composition to connote the vastness of space of which the figure is tiny part. The more that I look at the other details the more that this realisation grows. Roghman is engaging in a deep contemplation of how tiny mankind is in the big picture of the natural world: the wilderness. Note, for example, the difference in scale between the horse-drawn cart in the centre of the composition—the middle distance—and the surrounding trees in the same area.

Roelant Roghman’s etching, “Waterfall”, 1650–83

Roelant Roghman (aka Roeland Roghman) (c.1620–86)

“The Waterfall”, 1650–83, plate 6 in the series of eight plates, “Views of Italy” (TIB) (aka “Tyrolean landscapes” [Rijksmuseum]), published in Augsburg in the edition by Melchior Küsel (1626-83) or more likely in the later edition by Jeremias Wolff (1663–1724) as the plate number (“6”) has been almost erased in the margin. 

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed along the platemark with a trace of a collector’s stamp at the upper-right corner (recto).

Size: (sheet) 11.9 x 14.8 cm; (image borderline) 11.6 x 14.5 cm

Inscribed (but almost erased in this impression) below the image borderline to the right of centre: “6”.

Condition: well-inked impression in excellent condition (i.e. there are no holes, tears, folds, stains or foxing). There is a faint circular line at the upper right-corner—presumably the trace of a collector’s stamp.

TIB 5 (4).30 (34) (Walter L Strauss & Franklin Robinson [Eds.] 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 5, p. 43); Bartsch IV.34.30; Hollstein Dutch 30

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

[transl.] “View of a waterfall in Tirol. Next to the waterfall and three deer on the background hills. Print out a series of eight prints with Tyrolean landscapes.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.342644 )

See also the description of this print at the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1623895&partId=1&searchText=waterfall+Roghman&people=109551&page=1

I am selling this superb impression of an extremely rare print from the time of Rembrandt—Roghman was even one of Rembrandt’s good friends—for the total cost of AU$310 (currently US$234.11/EUR209.13/GBP184.64 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this beautiful etching that is so rare that it is virtually never seen on the market, 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 tiny detail showcases Roghman’s mastery of drawing. Note how he uses tiny horizontal strokes to give the suggestion weight and dark tone to the base of a foliage mass and even smaller strokes—dots really—to connote intense light hitting on the upper regions of foliage. Even more subtle is Roghman’s use of noetic space (i.e. non-drawn areas where the mind’s eye “sees” what is represented even though there are no marks representing what is physically to be seen) on the shadow side of the tree limb where he has chosen not to merge the foliage with the tree limb even though the foliage clearly “touches” the limb.

I love the way that Roghman uses light to dissolve tree limbs and uses hatching strokes to give the suggestion of where the mass of foliage is and its tone without actually drawing details of leaves.

Roelant Roghman’s etching, “Wateringe”, c.1643–77

Roelant Roghman (aka Roeland Roghman) (c.1620–86)

 “Wateringe” (aka “View of Watering” [TIB]), c.1643–77, from the series, “Eight landscapes with views in various provinces in the Netherlands” (aka “Views of Holland III” [TIB]), published by Clement de Jonghe (1624/25–77)

Etching in brown ink on fine laid paper with watermark

Size: (sheet) 20.5 x 32.8 cm; (plate) 13.3 x 20.8 cm

Inscribed within image: (upper centre) "Wateringe".

Inscribed below the image borderline: (left) "Roelant Roghman invent. et fecit."; (right) “1”.

State iii (of iii) Note that the attribution of this impression to the third state is based on: state i showing only the title of the print; state ii showing the title, the artist’s name, publisher and plate number; state iii with the publication details of state ii but with the publisher’s name erased.

TIB 4 (5). 17 (27) (Walter L Strauss & Franklin Robinson [Eds.] 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 4, p. 30); Hollstein Dutch 17-2(3)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Plate 1: Wateringen. View of a village with a church by a river populated with people walking along the banks, riding, fishing and in boats; from a series of eight plates. Etching” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1443431&partId=1&searchText=Roelant+Roghman&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.342618

Condition: good impression from a worn plate with generous margins. The print must have been extracted from a very early bound book/folio as there are stab-binding holes at the far left edge of the margin. There are previous collector’s pencil notations in the margins and a printer’s crease passing through the image. The crease has been toned to minimise the visual distraction. Beyond these issues the sheet is in excellent condition.  

I am selling this worn but well-preserved impression of an extremely rare print from the time of Rembrandt—Roghman was even one of Rembrandt’s good friends—for the total cost of AU$130 (currently US$97.20/EUR86.38/GBP75.28 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this dreadfully worn print that is so rare that even a worn copy is seldom seen on the market, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

In recent years academic interest has moved to a close examination of Roghman’s prints. Part of the reason is that Roghman was a close friend of Rembrandt (according to Arnold Houbraken in his three-volume biographical account of Netherlandish painters; see vol. 1, pp. 173–4), but the real reason is that Roghman engaged in a similar pursuit of creating imaginary mountain scenes like those of the now highly revered printmaker of extraordinary inventiveness, Hercules Segers—another of Rembrandt’s close associates.

This particular etching may not be the ideal showcase of Roghman’s creative invention. After all, the title, “Wateringe”, suggests that Roghman intended this scene to be a fairly objective topographical study of the town of the same name in the Netherlands. To my eyes, however, there is still creative invention to be found here. Note for instance how Roghman uses strong tonal contrast to cast the buildings in the middle distance in a blaze of light. Note also how he juxtaposes long lines in his representation of water in the canal with dots in rendering of the canal banks.