Crispijn de Passe the Elder’s etching with engraving, “God creates the fish and the birds”, c1612

Crispijn de Passe the Elder (aka Crispin Van de Passe; Crispin De Passe) (1564–1637)

“God creates the fish and the birds”, c1612, published in Arnhem in two editions by Johannes Janssonius (aka Joannes Jansonius; Jan Jansson; Jan Jansz) (1588–1664) in the series of sixty plates (incuding the title plate), “Liber Genesis”—the second edition features the four lines of Latin verse in two columns as shown here—and later as a third edition in the 18^th century by Isack Gvree in Amsterdam featuring two lines of Dutch text. (See Ilja M Veldman 2001, “Profit and Pleasure: Print Books by Crispijn de Passe” (Studies in prints and printmaking 4), Rotterdam, pp. 61–72.)

Engraving and etching on laid paper with small margins, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 9.2 x 13.8 cm; (plate) 8.3 x 12.7 cm; (image borderline) 7.2 x 12.4 cm

Lettered on plate below the image borderline in four lines of Latin in two columns: “Genus natantum …/ …// …/ …choros.”

State ii (of iii?) lifetime impression with the addition of four lines of Latin text in two columns (1612) signifying the second edition (and second state) before the erasure of these lines of text and lettering with two lines of Dutch text (c1700–50) in the third state.

Franken 1342 (Daniel Franken 1881, “L'oeuvre gravé des van de Passe”, Paris); Hollstein Dutch 855 (F W H Hollstein 1949, “Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700”, Amsterdam).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print (in its third state):

(Google transl.) “God creates fish and birds so that the water abounds with living creatures and flies birds along the sky.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.161302)

Condition: crisp, well-inked and well-printed life time impression with small margins and backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing).

I am selling this small luminous print—note the remarkable portrayal of God as a figure modelled in glowing light rather than material substance—for AU$195 in total (currently US$140.95/EUR124.26/GBP108.67 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 fascinating engraving from the early 1600s, 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 is a rare print in that it not only offers an image of what the artist believes God might look like, but also that it is a convincing graphic representation of a figure glowing with spiritual light. Although I have little experience in trying to portray an ethereal vision of any figure—let alone God—I think that this image from the early days of the 1600s is spectacularly successful given that most representations show spiritual figures as if they were made from varying degrees of tangible flesh and blood.

Now that I have explained my appreciation for Crispijn de Passe’s achievement in portraying what God might look like as he creates life in the sea and sky, I wish to point out a somewhat curious spatial anomaly in his representation of the Lord: my perception that the lower half of the Lord is clearly in front of the tree shown on the left and ambiguously BEHIND the same tree in the representation of the Lord’s upper half.

This spatial conundrum is undoubtedly unintentional, but to my eyes the illusion of twisting in the spatial arrangement is very apparent. The reason for the illusion is simple: in the depiction of the Lord’s lower half, the silhouette edge consists of convex curves suggesting that the shape of the Lord’s clouds overlap (i.e. “sit on top” of) the surrounding ground. By contrast, in the depiction of the Lord’s upper half, the silhouette edge consists mainly of concave curves (with the exception of a convexity to the left of the Lord’s head) inviting the eye to perceive that the tree overlaps the Lord’s aura.

John Crome (1768–1821)

"Colney", 1809, first published in Mrs Crome’s 1834 (posthumous) edition of 60 impressions on chine collé.

Soft-ground etching and drypoint on wove paper backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 22.4 × 29.8 cm; (plate) 16.5 × 23.5 cm

Inscribed on plate at lower right corner: “Crome 1809” (“9” reversed).

State i (of i)

Theobald 1906 32 (Henry Studdy Theobald 1906, “Crome's Etchings”, London, Macmilian); Goldberg 1978 242 (Norman L Goldberg 1978, “John Crome the Elder”, New York, New York University Press).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Man seen from behind standing against posts and rails in the foreground; two loose wheels leaning against the paling of cottage on r, rows of trees in the background on l.”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1519565&partId=1&searchText=john+Crome+colney&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/716581?searchField=All&sortBy=relevance&ft=colney&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=1

Condition: richly inked and well-printed crisp impression with generous margins in excellent/near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or foxing), laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this etching of utmost rarity that is not only in museum-quality condition, but it is also the first print that Crome executed, for AU$503 in total (currently US$364.20/EUR321.01/GBP279.91 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 seminal print in the oeuvre of one of the first English artists to value etching as a significant medium for portraying landscape, 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

From what I understand about the scene portrayed in this first etching that John Crome executed, the location is in the village of Colney “on the borders of Norwich”—according to the description of this print in William Weston Gallery’s 1993 exhibition catalogue (no. 6), “The Essence of English Landscape Etchings by John Crome 1769–1821”. The same catalogue also offers the following insight into Crome’s approach to rendering this landscape:

“…he used a combination of etching and soft-ground etching, possibly inspired by his admiration for Gainsborough’s use of mixed techniques in his prints. It was the first of a group of etchings using soft[-]ground in which he was to achieve quite extraordinarily beautiful effects of tone and line.” (cat.no. 25).

Paul Edme Le Rat’s etching, “L'Argiphonte”, 1881

Paul Edme Le Rat (aka Paul Edmunde Le Rat; Paul Edme Lerat) (1842/49–1892)

“L'Argiphonte”, 1881, published in “L'Art”, 1881, volume XXVII, page 95, printed by Alfred Salmon (fl.1863-1894) after the painting by Gustave Léon Antoine Marie Popelin (1859–1936).

Etching on cream wove paper with margins (as published) backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 34.7 x 22.6 cm; (plate) 31 x 19.3 cm; (image borderline) 26.4 x 15.2 cm

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “Gustave Popelin pinx./ L'Art”;

(centre) “L'ARGIPHONTE”; (right) “P. Le Rat sc./ Imp. A. Salmon.”

Beraldi 1885–92 1; IFF 64

Condition: crisp impression with full margins in near faultless condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds abrasions, significant stains). The sheet has been laid onto a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this graphically strong etching, for AU$142 in total (currently US$103.56/EUR90.61/GBP79.01 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 visually arresting etching, 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 eye-catching etching shows the mythological god Hermes (aka Mercury; Argeiphontes; L'Argiphonte) holding aloft the head of Argus (aka Argos) who he has just beheaded with a sickle. For those who may be wondering about the story leading up to this rather dreadful scene, the sequence of events is as complicated as it is fascinating. Let me try to explain …

Hermes was sent by the Zeus—the king of the gods—to slay Argus—a herdsman nicknamed, Argus Panoptes (transl. “all seeing”), because he was literally covered with eyes. The reason for this murder assignment was because Zeus’ wife, Hera, had given Argus the responsibility of guarding a very beautiful black and white heifer named “Io.”

This is where the story has an incredibly interesting twist.

Io was not just any cow, she was actually Zeus’ true love cleverly disguised by Zeus as a heifer so that Hera wouldn’t find out about his sexual proclivity for doe-eyed lovelies. Of course, Hera knew about Zeus’ strong desire for this particular heifer and this is why she gave Argus, the many-eyed herdsman, the job of preventing Zeus from expressing his deep admiration for Io.

The way that Hermes kills Argus is devilishly simple: Hermes pretends that he too is a herdsman like Argus—hence his lightweight skimpy outfit—and bores lonely Argus with so many tiring stories that all of Argus’ eyes went to sleep. At that moment Hermes lopped off Argus’ head with his handy sickle. Needless to say Hera was not impressed and extracts all of Argus’ eyes and places them in a passing peacock’s tail.

Stefano della Bella’s etching, “Satyress and two children in a landscape”, 1656

Stefano della Bella (1610–1664)

“Satyress and two children in a landscape” (descriptive title only), 1656, from the series of six round compositions, “Landscapes and sea ports.”

Etching on fine laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 21 x 16.7 cm; (plate) 13.5 x 13.3 cm; (diameter of image borderline) 13 cm.

Lettered on plate at lower left edge: "Stef. Della Bella fecit. 1656.”

State ii (of ii) with the addition of the artist's name and the date of execution.

Vesme (Della Bella) 745-2 (2) (A.de Vesme 1971, revised by Phyllis D.Massar, “Stefano della Bella”, New York, p. 116, cat.no. 745); Jombert (Della Bella) 188-3 (Charles Antoine Jombert 1772, “Essai d'un catalogue de l'oeuvre d'Etienne de la Belle, peintre et graveur florentin”, Paris, p. 183, cat.no. 180-3).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Satyress in a landscape; seated under a tree to right, nursing a child seated on her knee, while another child is seated on the ground to left, playing with garlands of flowers; a round composition.”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1499092&partId=1&searchText=della+Bella&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.77304

Condition: richly inked and well-printed impression (most likely a lifetime impression based on the quality of the lines showing no sign of wear to the printing plate) with generous margins. The print is in museum quality/near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, creases, abrasions, stains or foxing).

I am selling this round formatted image, revealing Della Bella’s mature etching style where his linework projects an almost Renoir-like softness of modelling, for AU$233 in total (currently US$169.92/EUR147.90/GBP129.23 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 rare lifetime (?) impression in near pristine condition, 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

Like most artists, Della Bella’s style of drawing and etching evolved through his life. This relatively late print was executed at a time when he had moved from his earlier approach of shading using parallel strokes applied with rigid/cool discipline to his mature style of rendering where Della Bella portrays his subjects as if he were physically touching and feeling their forms. When I look at the face of the mother Satyress, for instance, I am reminded of the softly applied strokes of Renoir’s late portraits where the delicate strokes suggest that Renoir modelled his portrayed forms like a blind person “sees” a subject by sense of touch. Interestingly, Della Bella has not completely abandoned his early approach of using parallel lines as the treatment of the sky reveals.

Félix Bracquemond’s frontispiece etching for “L'Illustration Nouvelle", 1868

Félix Bracquemond (aka Joseph Auguste Félix Bracquemond; Joseph Félix Bracquemond) (1833–1914)

"Eau-Forte: L'Illustration Nouvelle", 1868, published by Cadart & Luce (operational: 1867–1870/1) and printed by Auguste Delâtre (1822–1907) as the frontispiece for the first issue (Première Année) of "L'Illustration Nouvelle par une Société de Peintres-Graveurs à l'Eau-Forte” (1868).

Etching on laid paper with full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 47 × 31.5 cm; (plate) 23.6 × 15.7 cm

Title lettered on portrayed flag at upper right: "EAU-FORTE/ L'ILLUSTRATION NOUVELLE"

Inscribed on plate along lower edge: (left) “BRACQUEMOND DEL ET SC”; (centre) “CADART & LUCE ÉDITEURS.”; (right) “IMP. DELÂTRE PARIS”

State iii (of iii) with the publication details added along the lower edge of the plate.

Beraldi 1885–92 181.iii (Henri Béraldi 1885–1892, “Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle”. cat. no. 181, p. 70); IFF III.371.215 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève 1954, “Inventaire du Fonds Francais Apres 1800”, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, cat. no. 215, p. 371).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print (from the second state):

“Frontispiece for 'L'Illustration Nouvelle' (Cadart): nude male figure wielding flag "EAU-FORTE/L'ILLUSTRATION-NOUVELLE" against wind at sea's edge.”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1420922&partId=1&searchText=+F%u00e9lix+Bracquemond+L%27Illustration+Nouvelle&page=1)

See also the description at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/384067?searchField=All&sortBy=relevance&ft=Bracquemond&offset=0&rpp=80&pos=46

Condition: richly inked and well-printed impression with full margins (as published) in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or stains, but there are a few spots of light foxing in the upper margin).

I am selling this historically important etching expressing symbolically the shipwreck/abandonment of the medium of engraving and the revival of etching as the preferred medium for illustration in the late 19^th century, for AU$172 in total (currently US$124.45/EUR108.95/GBP95.17 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 eye-catching etching by one of the major 19^th century printmakers, 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 etching is a milestone in 19^th century illustration. I have no worries about making such a strong statement as this is the showcase print—the frontispiece illustration—for the first issue of "L'Illustration Nouvelle” (1868) promoting the revival of etching. (Note: The British Museum offers a description of this publication and the artists represented: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3779496&partId=1&people=134191&peoA=134191-2-60&page=1)

By design, Bracquemond’s etching unambiguous features a fluttering flag proclaiming in lettered text that etching is the new medium of illustration. Symbolically, the print also hints at the demise of engraving as the old medium of illustration—represented by a distant ship that has run aground and become wrecked on the same shifting sand as the strongly muscled nude man in the foreground is staking the flag claiming the new medium of etching.

Martin Hermann Faber’s etching, “Landscape with Christ healing the Centurion’s Servant”, c1620

Martin Hermann Faber (aka Marten Herman Faber; Marten Harmens Faber; Martinus Hermannus Faber) (1587–1648)

“Landscape with Christ healing the Centurion’s Servant”, c1620

Etching on laid paper trimmed with thread margins around the image borderline and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 40 x 51.8 cm; (image borderline) 39 x 51.6 cm

Lettered below the image borderline: (left) “Martin: Faber Embd: Inuentor"

Andresen/Hollstein/Wurzbach 1

Condition: richly inked and well-printed lifetime impression (based on the crisp linework showing no sign of wear to the plate) trimmed close to the image borderline with restored tears, nicks and replenished small losses including the lower left corner. The print is laid upon a support sheet.

I am selling this huge etching of the utmost rarity—it is so rare that I have been unable to find this print in the collection of any major institution—for AU$615 in total (currently US$442.26/EUR388.92/GBP340.29 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 stunning masterwork of early landscape etching with a biblical narrative, 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 is one of those prints that I suspect very few people will have seen as it is not held by any major museum or any other institution listing their collection online. Despite its rarity, the print is also historically important (at least in my way of looking at the development of the landscape tradition in art). The reason that I wish to propose this idea is simply because it fits neatly as a transitional landscape separating the “Weltlandschaft” (World Landscape) of the early Netherlandish painters, such as Joachim Patinir (c1480–1524) (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Patinir#/media/File:Paisaje_con_san_Jer%C3%B3nimo,_Joachim_Patinir,_Museo_del_Prado.jpg), and the late Mannerist landscapes of artists like Paul Bril (1554–1626) (see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27964568#/media/File:Paul_Bril_001.jpg). What marks it as a historically seminal image for me is that it captures a compression of spatial depth from the expansively vast— almost cosmic—aerial viewpoint of the earlier landscapes to a more intimate connection with nature.  

Etching by an unidentified artist from the circle of Jacques Androuet Ducerceau of a lidded goblet (c1560)

Unidentified artist from the circle of Jacques Androuet Ducerceau (aka Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau) (c1520–1586)

“Lidded goblet with lion head ornamentation” (note that the BM describe similar vessels as cups and other institutions describe them as goblets), c1560.

Etching on fine laid paper with small margins and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 18.3 x 10.1 cm; (plate) 13.3 x 9 cm

Condition: crisp and well-printed early impression (based on the line quality showing no sign of deterioration to the printing plate) with small margins (approx. 5 mm) laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet has light surface dustiness and there are small restorations of surface abrasions—now virtually invisible—and several ink dots on the lower right.

I am selling this Renaissance period etching of elegant beauty for AU$185 in total (currently US$133.26/EUR116.99/GBP102.71 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 highly refined early etching of a goblet, 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

(left) (circle of) Jacques Androuet Ducerceau’s etching (c1560)

(upper middle) Jacques Androuet Ducerceau’s etching (c1550/70) (British Museum, no. 1972,U.978)

(lower middle) Jacques Androuet Ducerceau’s etching (c1550/70) (British Museum, no. 1972,U.977)

(upper right) Virgil Solis’ etching with engraving (1530-62) (British Museum, no. 1972,U.1167)

(lower right) Sebald Beham’ engraving (1530) (British Museum, no. 1857,0613.311)

One of the inconvenient realities of attributing an artist's name to a print by an unidentified printmaker is that the attribution needs to be justified. Fortunately the task of setting the time period for this print to the mid-1500s is not that difficult as the style of the etching matches that of quite a few German printmakers of that era. For example Albrecht Altdorfer (1482/5­–1538) famously made twenty-two etchings of vessels very similar to this plate. Nevertheless, I know that this etching is not by Aldorfer as there are distinct stylistic differences. For example, with the exception of three of Aldorfer’s prints all of his etchings of vessels exhibit cross-hatched backgrounds (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1421792&partId=1&searchText=Albrecht+Altdorfer+&page=1). Similarly, Sebald Beham (1500–1550) made three engravings of lidded goblets with the same formal arrangement and using a very similar rendering style, but this print is not by Beham as Beham nearly always signed/monogrammed his plates (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1518559&partId=1&searchText=Beham++goblet&page=1). Virgil Solis (1514–1562) in his vast oeuvre of prints also made a series of intaglio plates featuring goblets, cups and pitchers that correlate well in terms of style with this print (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?people=107033&peoA=107033-2-60&ILINK|34484,|assetId=88785001&objectId=1488277&partId=1). Moreover, I have showcased previously an etching designed by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8–1543) of a goblet showing the same stylistic manner of the period… but admittedly the execution of the plate was completed much later in 1646 by Wenceslaus Hollar (see https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2018/02/wenceslaus-hollars-etching-wide-cup.html).

Mindful that there are many German printmakers who may well be the true artist who executed this elegantly simple etching, my attribution of this print to the circle of French printmakers around Jacques Androuet Ducerceau (c1520–1586) is all to do with the intimate details of how the goblet is rendered. Note, for example, how Ducerceau employs a row of dots to shade the lightest suggestion of shadow. He then uses right-handed angled hatched strokes to render the mid-tones (see the stem of the vessel) and finally applies a layer of vertical strokes on top of the angled strokes to achieve cross-hatched darkness.