Orazio Borgianni's etching, “God appearing to Moses”, 1615

Orazio Borgianni (aka Orazio Borgiani) (c1578–1616)

“God appearing to Moses” (TIB title) (“Dieu apparoȋt à Moīse au milieu du buisson ardent” [Bartsch title]), 1615 (inscribed on plate), plate 30 from the series of 52 etchings after Raphael, “The Loggia Paintings” (TIB title).

Etching on fine laid paper, trimmed with narrow margins around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 16.1 x 18.7 cm; (plate) 15.9 x 18.5 cm.

Numbered on plate at lower left: “30”.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (on stone at lower left corner) “1615 / [artist’s monogram]”

Lifetime impression of the only state. (Note: attribution of this print to a lifetime impression is based on the crisp quality of the lines showing minimal wear to the plate.)

TIB 38 (17).30(318) (Walter L Strauss [ed.] 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 38, New York, Abaris Books, p. 389); Bartsch XVII.318.30.

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(transl.) “God appears to Moses in the burning bush. Moses is kneeling with his hands in front of his face.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.85382)

See also the description of this print offered by the British Museum:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3047999&partId=1&people=94070&peoA=94070-2-60&page=1  

Condition: richly inked and near faultless museum-quality impression in excellent condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or significant signs of use). The sheet is backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this superb lifetime impression executed in the last year of the artist’s life and based on the design of the legendary Raphael (1483–1520) who had passed away only 95 years before this print was created, for AU$257 (currently US$180.49/EUR158.67/GBP14211 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 Renaissance period print, 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

Eugène Bléry's etching, “Le ruisseau au petit chêne”, 1849

Eugène Bléry (aka Alexandre Stanislas Eugène Bléry) (1805–1887)

“Le ruisseau au petit chêne” (The small oak stream) (aka “Le petit ruisseau” [The Little Brook]), 1849, plate 8 from the series eight landscape views, “8 Eaux-Fortes Gravées sur Nature” (see the folio and images of all the prints in the series at the National Gallery of Art, Washington: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.79530.html).

Etching on light grey chine collé (China paper) on heavy wove paper backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 19.4 x 15.1 cm; (chine colllé) 15 x 11 cm; (plate) 14.8 x 10.8 cm.

Inscribed on plate on upper edge: (right of centre) “EBléry. / 1849”; (right) “8”.

State ii (of ii).

Beraldi 1885-92 75 (Henri Beraldi 1885, “Les Graveurs du dix-neuvième siècle”, 12 vols plus supplement, Paris); IFF 94 (Département des Estampes 1930, “Inventaire du Fonds, Français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Landscape with in the centre foreground a stream; a forest in the background; rocks in the right foreground; finished state with letters.”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3288003&partId=1&searchText=blery&page=1)

Condition: Richly inked and well-printed impression laid upon a support sheet of fine archival/millennium quality washi paper. The sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or significant signs of use).

I am selling this small remarkably beautiful etching—one of Bléry's finest (to my eyes)—that is the final plate in his landscape series of views around Dampierre (France), for AU$278 in total (currently US$195.24/EUR171.63/GBP153.73 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this glowing vision of a steam in a dense forest, 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

Cornelis Cort's engraving, “The Drunkenness of Noah”, 1560, after Maarten van Heemskerck

Cornelis Cort (1533–1578)

“The Drunkenness of Noah” (aka “Dronkenschap van Noach”; “The Mocking of Noah’), 1560, plate 6 from the series of six engravings, “The Story of Noah” after Maarten van Heemskerck (aka Martin Heemskerk; Maarten van Veen) (1498–1574), originally published by Hieronymus Cock (aka Jérome Cock) (c1510–1570) in Antwerp, but this impression was published in 1646 by Claes Jansz. Visscher (II) (aka Piscator; Nicolaes Jansz Visscher) (1587–1652) in Amsterdam.

Regarding the series, “The Story of Noah”, the Curator of the British Museum advises that there “are related drawings in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen” (BM No. 1949,0709.36).

Engraving on laid paper trimmed to the image borderline (with loss of text below the image borderline) and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 19.6 x 24.6 cm

Inscribed on plate along lower edge: (left of centre) “Cor. Cort. fec.”; (right) "Martinus uan / Hemskerck / inuent. 6”

State iii (of iii) with the addition of fecit note to Cort (of state ii) and the repositioned number “6” on the lower right (of state iii).

Riggs 1977 117 (Timothy Allan Riggs, 1977, “Hieronymus Cock, 1510–1570: Printmaker and Publisher in Antwerp at the Sign of the Four Winds”, London, Yale Uni. Press, p. 339, cat. no. 117); Bierens de Haan 1948 9 (Johan Catharinus Justus Bierens de Haan 1948, “L'oeuvre gravé de Cornelis Cort graveur hollandais 1533–1578”, Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff, cat. no. 9); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 7.III (Maarten van Heemskerck) (Ilja Veldman [comp.] & Ger Luijten [ed.] 1993/4 “The new Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450–1700: Maarten van Heemskerck”, Roosendaal, Koninklijke Van Poll, cat. no. 7); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 8 (Cornelis Cort) (Manfred Sellink [comp.] & Huigen Leeflang [ed.] 2000, “The new Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450–1700: Cornelis Cort”, Part 1, Rotterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet Sound and Vision Publ., p. 19, cat. no. 8).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(transl.) “Noah is lying drunk and half undressed in his tent. On the floor a wine jug and on the table next to him a wine cup. His son Ham points at him and mocks him. Shem and Japeth shield their father with a dress. At the back right, Noah can be seen how he works his vineyard, on a hill stands the ark.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.98842)

See also the description offered by the British Museum:

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1522305&partId=1&searchText=Cornelis+Cort+Heemskerck&page=1)

Condition: richly inked impression trimmed along the image borderline and laid upon a support sheet of fine archival/millennium quality washi paper. There are small areas of inconspicuous restoration (infilling of losses with watercolour) in the centre of the hanging drape at upper left and dots of restoration elsewhere, otherwise the sheet is in very good clean condition with no significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this visually arresting engraving layered with mini narratives—viz. drunken Noah exposing his genitals, embarrassed sons walking backwards with a cloak to cover his nakedness; a son admonishing his father; a bevy of concerned women spectators with one carrying a female weapon of control (the distaff); a “flashback” vignette showing Noah tending to his harvest with his ark in the distance—by one of the most famous of the 16^th century engravers, for AU$356 (currently US$250.02/EUR219.79/GBP196.86 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 masterwork of engraving—note how the artist is able to suggest the coarse weave of the curtains, the sheen of skin and texture of the fleece worn by the centre figure (Shem)—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

Jean Léon Gérôme's etching, “La Mort de César”, 1860–70

Jean Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)

“La Mort de César” (The death of Caesar) (aka “Un Sénateur Romain”), 1860–1870, etched study excuted by Gérôme, based on his pencil drawing “The Dead Caesar“, c1859, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (see https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.73876.html) for his 1867 painting held by the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (see https://art.thewalters.org/detail/17030/the-death-of-caesar/). This is a proof impression stamped with Philippe Burty’s seal before publication in Philippe Burty’s (1830–1890) (ed.) “Sonnets et Eaux-Fortes”, published in 1869 by Alphonse Lemerre in Paris, as plate 14, “Un Sénateur Romain”, with a sonnet by Anatole France (1844-1924).

Note: Gérôme’s famous painting of which this etching is a study is reproduced by John Carr Armytage (aka John Charles Armytage) (1802–1897) (see https://wellcomecollection.org/works/z4372cje).

Etching and drypoint on fine wove (China) paper—possibly on chine-collé or with pale plate tone—signed on plate in reverse with red ink-stamp of the former Philippe Burty collection (Lugt 413) on the lower left, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet cut slightly unevenly) 17.4 x 24.1 cm; (plate) 13.1 x 20 cm; (image borderline) 12.7 x 19.8 cm

For an insightful discussion about this print, see footnote 25 on page 79 of Scott Christopher Allan & Mary G. Morton’s (2010) “Reconsidering Gérôme” (Los Angeles, Getty Trust Publications).

Condition: well-printed proof impression with margins, laid upon a support sheet of fine archival/millennium quality washi paper. There are light pencil notations by a former collector along the lower margin edge. There is also a red collector's seal printed at the lower-left corner of the impression borderline. This seal belongs to the famous writer and editor of the publication in which this etching features. Beyond light surface dustiness, the sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or foxing).

I am selling this etching of the utmost rarity executed by the hand of Gérôme and stamped with the former collection seal of one of the most famous art critics of the 19^th century, for AU$530 (currently US$372.22/EUR327.22/GBP293.08 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 sensitively executed etched study by Gérôme—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

Raimond La Fage's etching, “Le Serpent d'Airain”

Raimond La Fage (aka Raymond La Fage; Nicolas Raymond La Fage; Raymond de Lafage; Remond La Fage) (1656-1684)

“Le Serpent d'Airain” (aka “The Brazen Serpent”; “Moses and the Serpent of Brass”), c1683, plate 20 (as inscribed on plate) from the series, “Recueil des meilleurs desseins de Raimond La Fage” (Compendium of the best designs of Raimond La Fage), originally published by Jan van der Bruggen (aka Jean Vander Bruggen; Jean van der Bruggen) (1648/49–1690) and later by Gerard Valck (aka Gerard Valk) (1651/52–1726). This impression is from the Valck edition.

Etching on laid paper, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 63.7 x 49.2 cm; (plate) 57.5 x 43.5 cm.

Lettered on plate below the image: (left) “Remond le Fage fecit”; (centre) “Le Serpent d’Airain. Liu des Nombres Ch. 21.”; (right) “a Amsterdam, chez Gerard Valck, avec Previlege.”

State ii? (of ii?) after burnishing of the earlier publishers’ name (“Jean Vander Bruggen”) and the addition of Valck’s name.

Note: Franz Ertinger (1648–1710) etched another composition of “The Brazen Serpent” (https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/2551/le-serpent-dairain-the-brazen-serpent) based on a drawing by Raimond La Fage (https://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/raymond-de-lafage_moise-et-le-serpent-d-airain_sanguine), but the present etching is by the hand of La Fage as inscribed on the plate at lower left: “Remond ls Fage fecit”.

Condition: richly inked and well-printed impression with flattened folds marks (as published?) laid upon a support sheet of fine archival/millennium quality washi paper. There are tears following the original fold marks and there are a few small holes but these issues are addressed by the support sheet; otherwise the print is in a good clean condition for its considerable age.

I am selling this huge etching executed with freely laid strokes exemplifying the artist’s unhesitating ease with portraying a biblical event from the Books of Kings (2 Kings 18:4) (Numbers 21:4-9) where Moses erects a brass sculpture of a snake and advises his followers to gaze upon it so that they would not be harmed by the “fiery serpents” sent by God to bite those who were grumbling about the hardships that they were experiencing during their exodus from Egypt—my apologies if my version of the story is not quite correct—for AU$360 (currently US$252.40/EUR221.63/GBP199.17 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, beautiful and insightfully executed etching—note the artist’s skill in portraying figures by drawing the contours of their muscles to create silhouette outlines in three-dimensional space—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