Anon

A design showing the general plan of the Parliament of Scotland; of the Order of Precedence of the members of that Body on entering the House and of the sitting of that illustrious Body.

18^th Century copper engraving printed onto laid paper.

Plate: 359 x 459 mm

In very good condition.

Price: £70

A design showing the general plan of the Parliament of Scotland; of the Order of Precedence of the members of that Body on entering the House and of the sitting of that illustrious Body.

Wynne Ryland after Kauffman

‘Achilles sese ob Mortem Patrocli Afflictat’

Published on 4^th December 1777

Stipple engraving printed in sanguine onto laid paper.

Plate: 306 x 395 mm

Strong impression. In good condition.

Price: £150

Wynne Ryland after Kauffman

[Cleopatra mourning the death of Marc Antony]

Published 25^th March 1778 by W W Ryland, London

Stipple engraving printed in sanguine onto laid paper.

Sheet: 368 x 284 mm

Strong impression. In good condition.

Price: £180

Wynne Ryland after Kauffman

Penelope awakened by Euryclea

Published 12^th May 1785 by John Boydell

Stipple/line engraving printed onto laid paper.

Plate: 302 x 392 mm

Good Impression.

Price: £170

Penelope awakened by Euryclea

Euryclea was a servant of Penelope and Odysseus. She was the first to recognize Odysseus on his return and in this scene, she is waking Penelope to inform her of her husband’s return.

Wynne Ryland after Kauffman

‘Perseverance’

Published 9^th July 1777, London

Stipple engraving printed onto rolled paper. Watermark visible in the paper – ‘1794 J. Whatman’

Plate: 378 x 290 mm

In very good condition.

Price: £180

J. F. Polctnich after Jordaens

Le Roy de la Feve (The King of the Party)

Painted in 1639 and printed in 1796

18^th century copper engraving.

Sheet: 441 x 592 mm

A few very small marginal tears. One larger repaired marginal tear (bottom margin).

Price: £250

Based on the painting by Jacob Jordaens (one of the leading Flemish Baroque artist of the 17^th Century), this scene depicts the Flemish celebration of the Epiphany. One person is appointed King for the evening and in this particular scene, Jordaens has depicted the oldest member of the party as King. From the facial expressions and the rowdy chaotic nature of the scene, Jordaen’s is showing his distaste for drunkenness; on the original painting, the words “Nothing seems more like a madman than a drunkard” are inscribed at the top.

Keating after Jordaens

Filial Piety

Published 25^th March 1790 by Keating

Mezzotint

Plate:

One or two small marginal tears. Good Impression.

Price: £75

Filial Piety

Image showing the condemned disciple Simon being suckled by his daughter, Pero. The Judges, so overwhelmed by such a show of filial piety, pardoned Simon for his daughter’s actions.

**Barenulf after Dugour

Atala delivrant Chactas

Stipple engraving printed using coloured ink.

Plate: 322 x 381 mm

Title/publishing line printed from a separate plate. Good impression.

Price: £90

**Le Bas after F. Boucher

 Title erased [Pastoral scene]

Copper engraving printed onto laid paper, mounted onto backing card.

Plate: 398 x 467 mm

Surface abrasion just beneath the image where the title has been erased.

Price: £183

J.F. Blondel after Salléy

Cross section of the Hotel de Ville with its decorations and illuminations for the Ball held on the night of 30^th August 1739 to celebrate the marriage of Madame Louise Elizabeth of France and Prince Philippe of Spain

18^th century copper engraving printed onto laid paper. Watermark visible.

Plate: 517 x 704 mm

Several repaired marginal tears. Crease line down the centre of the image. Slight spotting. Good impression.

Price: £245

Cross section of the Hotel de Ville with its decorations and illuminations for the Ball held on the night of 30^th August 1739 to celebrate the marriage of Madame Louise Elizabeth of France and Prince Philippe of Spain

An architectural cross-section showing the Hotel de Ville in Paris is all its finery for the marriage celebration of Louise Elizabeth and Prince Philippe of Spain. Madame Louise Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France and his Queen Consort Maria Leszczyńska, and the elder twin sister of Henriette-Anne. She married Prince Philippe of Spain, becoming ‘Madame Infante’ and later became the Duchess of Parma.

 **Guiot after Dugour

Chactas et Atala descendant le Fleure

Stipple engraving printed using coloured ink.

Plate: 331 x 423 mm

Repaired marginal tear (approx 85mm). A few other smaller marginal tears. Good impression.

Price: £90

King Belshazzar beholding the Hand Writing on the Wall

London, c. 1790

Mezzotint

Trimmed to image and within publication line, traces of old fold

475x615mm

£150

King Belshazzar beholding the Hand Writing on the Wall

A loose interpretation by Hudson of Rembrandt’s famous painting (now in the National Gallery, London) of Belshazzar’s Feast. In the centre of the design Belshazzar, as an oriental monarch in cloak and turban, starts back in horror as the finger of God traces Hebrew letters (not written correctly by Hudson here) on the wall in the background. A richly dressed man and woman sit on the left and fruit and wine are on the table. A scene from Chapter Five of the biblical Book of Daniel. Belshazzar King of Babylon, son of Nebuchadnezzar had been feasting and praising his gods, when he was startled and terrified to behold the hand of God writing the words Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin on the wall. His mother, entering the hall, suggested that he send for the Prophet Daniel, who had been trusted by his father, to interpret the phenomena. The bible goes on to relate Daniel’s interpretation thus:

5:23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

5:24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.

5:25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

5:26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

5:29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

5:30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

5:31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Absalom’s Submission to his Father King David, for pardon of the Assassination of his Brother Amnon, in Revenge of his having forced his Sister Tamar.

London, J. Boydell August 20th 1766

Mezzotint

Traces of old crease, laid onto card, slight rubbing.

520x370mm

£150

Absalom’s Submission to his Father King David, for pardon of the Assassination of his Brother Amnon, in Revenge of his having forced his Sister Tamar.

A delicately executed, biblical subject. Absalom, King David’s favourite son, kneels before his father, hands clasped. David, in the dress and turban of an oriental potentate, raises his hand to bless his son, and on the ground is Absalom’s discarded bow and quiver of arrows. Absalom, David’s third son, is first mentioned as murdering his half brother Amnon, David's eldest son, in revenge for the rape of his full sister Tamar. For this he was driven into banishment, but he was eventually restored to favour through the good offices of his cousin Joab. Later, when some uncertainty seems to have arisen as to the succession, Absalom organized a revolt. For a time he seemed completely successful; David, with a few followers and his personal guard, fled across the Jordan, leaving to Absalom Jerusalem and the main portion of the kingdom. The usurper pursued the fugitives with his forces but was completely defeated in the forest of Ephraim (apparently west of Jordan) and killed by Joab, who found him caught by the hair in an oak tree.

The Storm

Copper engraving on laid paper

Very good impression. Crease along the dedication line. Otherwise, in very good condition.

490 x 360 mm

£80 / €120

The Storm

This image represents the arrival of the Enlightenment, a European literary and philosophical movement of the 18th century. The bolt of lightening crashing down through the oak is symbolic of the breakdown of the principal force which had enslaved the human mind – religion (represented by the great oak ). The Classical ruins depicted in the background, show how the movement, particularly in the arts, confronted the ideas of Classical Antiquity which had so influenced artists up till then.

Muzzi  after E.A. Petitot

Marcia de Giudici d’Armi

18^th C Copper engraving printed onto laid paper

Plate: 293 x 437 mm

Clear impression in good condition.

Price: £200

Vespasianus und Julius Sabinus

Nuremberg, J. F. Frauenholz 1801

Mezzotint

Narrow margins

250x420mm

£180

Vespasianus und Julius Sabinus

A rare, large, German mezzotint. This view shows the Emperor Vespasian sitting on his throne, gesturing angrily at the bound Sabinus and the kneeling figures of Sabinus’ wife Empona and her two weeping children. During 69AD and the Year of the Four Emperors, two Gallic noblemen Julius Classicus and Julius Sabinus, seeing that Rome was seriously weakened, decided to rebel and set up an Empire of their own in Gaul. Defeated in 70 AD by Petillius Cerealis, Sabinus and his wife, who had defended and hidden him, were brought to Rome and executed. The successful history painter Philip Friedrich von Hetsch (1758-1838), was born in Stuttgart. At the age of 13, against the wishes of his parents who intended him to become a court musician like his father, Hetsch entered the Ducal Military Academy to train as an artist.

The Centurion Cornelius. From an Original Picture brought to this Country by M. Bryan Esqr

London, Messrs. Ward April 10th 1800

Mezzotint

Misc neat marginal repairs, some affecting edges of engraved surface.

590x660mm

£280

The Centurion Cornelius. From an Original Picture brought to this Country by M. Bryan Esqr

A strangely orientally dressed Roman centurion Cornelius, supposedly the first gentile convert to Christianity, instructing his servants to travel to Joppa, in accordance with his instructions from the angel, to invite St. Peter to his home in Caesarea so that he and his family might be baptised. The stern, bearded figure of Cornelius stands on the left, hand outstretched, while his three servants bow before him, hats in hand. The art connoisseur and picture dealer Michael Bryan (1757-1821), is best known today for his monumental, still useful and constantly revised Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers first published in 1816.

Etchings after Jean-Antoine Watteau

Born at Valenciennes, Watteau (1684–1721), who early displayed an interest in drawing, left for Paris to study art in 1702. After a harsh struggle to survive, he won recognition in 1709, when he won second prize in a student competition at the Academy. Three years later he was invited to join the Academy, and success followed swiftly. His patrons, who came from diverse levels of society, included dealers, antiquaries, and such connoisseurs as the great collector Pierre Crozat. In frail health, Watteau died from tuberculosis at the young age of 37, soon after a visit to London, where he had travelled in the hope of being cured by the eminent physician Dr. Richard Meade. All the etchings listed below are fine, strong impressions with wide margins.

La Fileuse

Augsburg, c. 1730

Etching

320x210mm

£100

La Fileuse

A charming study of a young peasant girl spinning. She is depicted wearing a voluminous headdress, with an apron over her dress, standing and holding a spindle under her arm from which she twists the thread.

Mezzetin

Augsburg, c. 1730

Etching

220x320mm

£120

Mezzetin

A study of the seated figure of the Commedia dell’Arte character ‘Mezzetin’, the amorous valet, frequently engaged in the pursuit of unrequited love. He sits in profile, wearing a large floppy hat, cape, and baggy breeches trimmed with tassels.

Study of a Negro boy and wine cooler

Augsburg, c. 1730

Etching

220x320mm

£120

Study of a Negro boy and wine cooler

An interesting study of a negro boy, wearing a striped shirt and trousers, taking a bottle of wine from a large wine cooler.

Two studies of a Persian diplomat

Augsburg, c. 1730

Etching

320x240mmm

£200

Two studies of a Persian diplomat

Two studies of a young man in oriental dress. One shows him full length, wearing a striped djellaba, a fur lined pelisse over one shoulder and a fur trimmed cap with two peaks at the crown. The other is closer study, showing the same man seated, wearing the same, strange peaked hat, with his hands in his lap, hidden in the folds of his gown.

Study of a young woman from ‘Les Plaisirs du Bal’

Augsburg, c. 1730

Etching

250x180mm

£100

Study of a young woman from ‘Les Plaisirs du Bal’

A fine, sharp study for the figure of the young woman in a black dress dancing on the left in Watteau’s painting Les Plaisirs du Bal, now in Dulwich Picture Gallery. She curtseys, one hand holding her skirts, the other outflung, glancing alluringly over her shoulder. The full painting is a scene of wish-fulfilment, a warm dusk in the marble-vaulted summer-house of an Italian garden. There is a rustic band, dancers in fancy-dress, romance, flirtation and conversation. After the stuffy protocol of the Court at Versailles, this scene would have conveyed a daring informality.

Etching printed on chine collé paper.

Excellent Impression. Trimmed just outside the plate mark

217 x 153 mm

£30

Study of a Bull's head.