Jan Saenredam’s engraving, “Diana discovers Callisto's pregnancy”, 1599, after Goltzius Jan Saenredam (c1565–1607)

Jan Saenredam (c1565–1607)

“Diana discovers Callisto's pregnancy” (aka “Diana ontdekt de zwangerschap van Callisto” [Rijksmuseum title]); “Diana Ordering Her Nymphs to Strip Callisto Who Tries in Vain to Hide Her Pregnancy” [TIB title]; “Dine ordonnant à ses nymphes de dépouiller Calisto” [Bartsch title]), 1599, after the design of Hendrik Goltzius (aka Hendrick Goltzius) (1558–1617), with Imperial Privilege from Rudolf II van Habsburg (1552–1612) and two lines of Latin lettered below the image by Cornelis Schonaeus (1541–1611). This is a first state, lifetime impression before the addition of the publication details for Hendrick Hondius I (1573–1650) (state ii) and the details for Claes Jansz. Visscher II (1587–1652) (state iii).

Engraving on laid paper trimmed close to the image borderline on the top and sides and with the writing edge below, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 21.7 x 30.3 cm; (image borderline) 20.1 x 30 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (lower left) “HGoltzius Inuent./ I. Saenredam Sculp.”; (centre) “Cum privil. Sa. Cæ. M./ 1599.”

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left of centre) “Dum detrectanti .../ … crimen.”; (right of centre) “Cornelius Schoneus.”

State i (of iii)

TIB 4.52 (Walter L. Strauss [ed.] 1980, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish Artists: Matham; Saenredam; Muller”, vol., 4, New York, Abaris Books, p. 368, cat. no. 52); Hollstein Dutch 77-1(3) (George Shepard Keyes [comp.] 1980, “The New Hollstein: German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts c1450–1700: Jan Saenredam to Roelandt Savery”, vol., 23, Amsterdam, Van Gendt & Co, p. 60, cat. no. 77).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print: (transl.) “The naked Diana with her nymphs in the wilderness. Diana points accusingly at Callisto, whose clothes are pulled aside by the nymphs to reveal her pregnancy. The print has a Latin caption” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.169282).

Condition: a well-printed lifetime impression in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this superb lifetime (first state) impression of what I see as a masterwork of engraving executed in 1599, for the total cost of AU$689 (currently US$459.82/EUR421.34/GBP370.14 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 spectacularly fine engraving, 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

Sébastien Bourdon’s etching, “Mary with Child” (aka “Maria met Kind”) c1648 (BM: 1643–1652)

This etching has a fuzzy history. What is known for certain is that the artist intended the scene to be a round image featuring St John the Baptist as an infant on the right and St Joseph engaged in carpentry on the left behind the Holy Family; as shown in the lifetime impression held by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_R-8-38. After the artist died, however, the image was reshaped to the oval format shown here. The reason for this major alteration is unknown, but presumably the plate was damaged. Certainly, the change must have been facilitated by the publisher and this is where I see a cloud of fuzziness descend. If I were to take the catalogue entry made by Charles LeBlanc (1851) to be accurate, then there was only one publisher and that was Pierre Mariette (see vol., 1, p. 494, cat. no. 10). Unfortunately, this is not the case as the Rijksmuseum has an impression of this plate showing Thomas Lejuge as the publisher (see http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.86620). At first, I was happy to accept that Mariette was the first publisher and Lejuge followed in his footsteps with a later edition. Sadly, however, I am slightly uneasy about this straight forward explanation. On close examination of the print showing Lejuge as publisher I can see more of the original plate details outside of the oval borderline than the more “cleaned up” outer border space showing Mariette as the publisher. There is also a copy of this print that is inscribed with the letters, “I.S.A” (Arabic for Jesus?) above the Holy Family after the publisher’s name was somewhat forcefully erased (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1856-0815-23), suggesting that there may be a state before (or after) one of the two known publishers, as neither of the states with the publisher’s details has these letters.

Sébastien Bourdon (1616-1671)

“Mary with Child” (aka “Maria met Kind”; “Virgin and Child”), (1643–1652), published by Pierre Mariette I (c1603–1657).

Etching on fine (Japanese?) paper, trimmed along the platemark (or slightly within) and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 13.5 x 9.5 cm.

Lettered in plate along the lower edge: (left) “S. Bourdon, fecit.”; (centre) “Puerulus autem crescebat, et coroboratur Spiritum” (But the little boy was growing, and the Spirit was strengthening him) (right) “P. Mariette exc.”

State ii? (of iii/iv?) with the change from a round format of the first state to an oval shape and with the addition of publication details for Pierre Mariette I, but before the change of details to Thomas Lejuge (see an impression of the later state held by the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.86620). Note that the order of the publisher (and the state) may be that Mariette followed Lejuge. There is also an unrecorded state showing the letters. “I.S.A.”, inscribed above the Holy Family (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1856-0815-23).

IFF 12 (Département des Estampes 1939–, “Inventaire du Fonds Français: Graveurs du XVIIe Siècle”, vol., 2, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, p. 67, cat. no. 12); LeBlanc 10 (Charles Le Blanc 1851, “Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes: contenant le dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations”, vol. 1, Paris, P Jannet, p. 494, cat. no. 10).

Condition: a well-printed impression with a closed tear at lower right and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this sensitively executed and very beautiful etching, for the total cost of AU$302 (currently US$201.47/EUR184.73/GBP162.20 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 superb etching of the Holy Family—note how the artist has been able to fill the scene with light and air—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Note that I have previously listed a portrait of the artist, “Sébastien Bourdon” (1733), engraved by Laurent Cars after Hyacinthe Rigaud that is currently still available; see https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2022/11/laurent-cars-engraving-sebastien.html. 

This print has been sold

Jacques Callot’s etching, “Frontispiece ‘Gloriosissimæ’”, c1625

Sometimes when looking at the collectors’ stamps on the back of prints one’s mind takes a metaphorical leap back in time to enter into the mindset and experiences of a print’s previous owners. In the case of today’s etching—the frontispiece to “Gloriosisimæ Virginis Dei Paræ Elogivm” (Praise the Most Glorious Virgin of God) by one of the most famous of all printmakers, Jacques Callot—this tiny print was once owned by a Hungarian nobleman with the name, Görgey, as the back show his estate-stamp featuring his family’s coat-of-arms with the words below: “GÖRGEY/ HAGYATEK [i.e., his estate]”. Certainly, this is undoubtedly the stamp signifying nobility as the “y” on the end of the name signifies this even beyond the arms shown above it. Perhaps even more interestingly, however, is that the “y” at the end of the name clarifies that the stamp was placed on this print before the Hungarian revolution of 1848–49, as this date is when those of noble birth were prudent to change the last letter of their name from “y” to “i”, hence this collector's stamp is earlier than 1848. Although I do not have a strong grip on possible collectors of Hungarian noble descent, I would like to believe (and I may well be very wrong) that the stamp belongs to one of the greatest generals of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army, Artúr Görgei or Artúr Görgey (1818–1916)—the latter being his name at birth.

The reason I mention all this detail is because my head is at the moment reeling from the knowledge that next week I’ll be walking in the streets of Budapest where this general earned his fame. In short, I’m going back to the hometown of where this print rested for some of its life … wacko! See you in another week, Budapest!

Also on the back of this print is the delicately fine collector’s stamp of the Austrian writer, Count Franz Jozef von Enzenberg (1802–1879) (Lugt 845). From reading the account about this collector in Frits Lugt’s (2002) “Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes” (p. 151) I understand that this collector amassed pieces of what Lugt describes (in transl.) as “the greatest rarity” and owned the Castle of Tratzberg in Tirol. He must have been a very focused and interesting chap and I'm honoured to be briefly in his head!

 

Jacques Callot (1592–1635)

“Frontispiece ‘Gloriosissimæ’” (Lieure title) (aka “Frontispiece ‘Gloriosisimæ Virginis Dei Paræ Elogivm’” [Praise the Most Glorious Virgin of God]), c1625 (BM: 1621–1633), published by Israël Henriet (c1590–1661) with Royal privilege and designed for a publication written by Alphonse de Rambervillers (1552–1633) (as inscribed in plate), with a dedication to Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Verneuil (1601–1682).

The Curator of the British Museum advises: “The production and publication line [were] probably added by Henriet after Callot's death” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1861-0713-165).

Etching on fine laid paper, trimmed close to the image borderline. Stamped verso with the collector marks of Count Franz Jozef von Enzenberg (1802–1879) (Lugt 845) and the estate stamp of the Hungarian Nobleman, “[coat-of-arms]/ GÖRGEY/ HAGYATEK”—possibly Artúr Görgei/Görgey (1818–1916).

Size: (sheet) 9.8 x 7.2 cm.

Lettered in plate: (oval) “GLORIOSISIMÆ/ VIRGINIS DEI PARÆ ELOGIVM/ Omnia lœtitiœ, doloris, & gloriœ mis-/ teria artificiola breuitate complectes./ …/ Ad Illustrissimum & / Reuerendissimum Principem, Henricvm/ BORBONIVM, Episcopum Metensem,/ Sac. Rom. Imp. P. etc./ Al. de Ramb. IC ’cecinit./ Callot fecit. Israël ex. cum/ priuil. Reg.”; each one of the small oval scenes is captioned and numbered.

State iii (of iii) with the addition of the text lines “Callot fecit. Israël ex. cum/ priuil. Reg.”

Lieure 512 iii (Jules Lieure 1989, “Jacques Callot: Catalogue Raisonné de l’Œuvre Gravé, San Francisco, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, pp. 47–48, cat. no. 509 3^e); Meaume 90.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “Large oval cartouche with engraved inscription, surrounded by six putti and five oval medallions illustrated with scenes from the life of the Virgin: anti-clockwise, birth of Christ. Virgin and St Joseph worshipping Christ Child, Christ on Cross, Christ appearing to Virgin, and triumph of Virgin; with production and publication detail. 1621/33 Etching” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_X-4-36).

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed (near faultless) impressions with no tears, holes, abrasions, significant stains or foxing. Verso has ink stamps of two collectors and remnants of previous mounting along with pencil and ink notations by previous collectors.

I am selling this superb impression of a small and rare etching for AU$322 in total (currently US$214.81/EUR196.94/GBP172.97 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 tiny frontispiece by one of the major old master 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

Master IB’s engraving, “Genius of History”, c1523–1530.

When I selected this very beautiful tiny engraved roundel by one of the Nuremberg Little Masters to showcase tonight, I was hoping that my background research about it would be straight forward; after all, the print is in the collection of the British Museum. I was wrong. The more I searched who the Master/Monogrammist IB might “really” be the more the proposed attributions flowed … I even found an auction house that had this print as being by Master FG (aka Girolamo Faccioli), but to my eye the monogram is clearly “IB”. Certainly, if I were to adopt the attribution given by “The Illustrated Bartsch” (vol., 16, p. 77, cat. no. 31), I should feel comfortable proposing that the printmaker might be Georg Pencz (c1500–1550) as Georg Pencz’s name is bracketed after Master I.B. Nevertheless, the biographical notes for Master IB provided by the British Museum are a tad unsettling: “Nuremberg Little Master printmaker; sometimes wrongly identified with the young Georg Pencz or Jacob Binck” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG146405). I would have loved to follow the BM’s dismissal of Georg Pencz as being the true identity of Master IB, but after close examination of little details (e.g., how Master IB uses strokes to render his figures’ necks or the manner of representing the directional curls in hair, I am still uncertain who is correct).

Master IB (aka Monogrammist IB; Georg Pencz [TIB attrib.]; Jacob Binck [Nagler former attrib.]) (fl.1523–1530)

“Genius of History” (aka “Le genie de l’histoire” [Bartsch title]), c1523–1530.

Engraving on fine laid paper trimmed around the borderline and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet dia.) 5.7 cm.

Inscribed in plate: (lower right) “IB”.

TIB 16.31 (Robert A. Koch [ed.] 1980, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Early German Masters: Jacob Bink; Georg Pencz; Heinrich Aldegrever”, vol., 16, New York, Abaris Books, p. 77, cat. no. 31); Bartsch 31 (Adam von Bartsch 1860, “Le Peintre-Graveur“, vol. 8., Leipsic, R. Weigel, p. 309, cat. no. 31 [see https://archive.org/details/lepeintregraveu10weiggoog/page/309/mode/1up).

Adam von Bartsch offers the following description of this print: (transl.) “The genius of history, expressed by the figure of a winged woman writing on a table. She is seated, seen in profile and turned to the right, where we see a cuirass, a shield and a helmet placed on the ground in the background. The letters I B are engraved at the bottom of this same side. Round piece.” See also the description of this print offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1850-0810-581.

Condition: a well-printed, slightly silvery impression, trimmed around the borderline and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins. There is a dot stain (printer’s ink?) below the tablet otherwise the sheet is in a good condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or foxing.

I am selling this very small engraved roundel from the early 1500s, executed by a master from the circle known as the Nuremberg Little Masters, showing an angelic female personification of history seated beside armour while she records all that has happened through time on a stone tablet, for the total cost of AU$514 (currently US$342.66/EUR314.22/GBP276.08 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 exceptionally beautiful, jewel-like tiny engraving, 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

Michel Wolgemut and/or Wilhelm Pleydenwurff or workshop of Wolgemut’s double-sided woodcut leaf, 1491

Michel Wolgemut (aka Michael Wohlgemuth) (1434–1519) and/or Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (c1458–1494) or from the workshop of Michel Wolgemut—mindful that Albrecht Dürer (aka Albrecht Duerer) (1471–1528) was an apprentice in Wolgemut’s workshop from 1486

“The Glory of the Twenty-One Elders” (aka “Die einvndsibentzigist figure” [The one and seventh figure] [published title; see https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/content/pageview/5952634]) and “Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet” (aka “Die sechsvndviertzigist figur zum andern mal” [the forty-sixth figure for another time] [published title; see https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/content/pageview/5952635], 1491, a double-sided leaf of woodcuts from a series of ninety-one woodcuts by Michael Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff and other unidentified artists as illustrations to Stephan Fridolin’s (1430–1498) “Schatzbehalter, oder Schrein der waren Reichtümer des Heils unnd ewyger Seligkeit” (Treasure chest of the true riches of the saints and eternal salvation), published and printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger (c1445–1513) in 1491.

See this double-sided woodcut leaf in its context in the publication offered by Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/dasbuchderschatz00frid/page/n277/mode/2up.  

Double-sided leaf of woodcuts on laid paper trimmed on, or slightly within, the image borderline.

Size: (sheet) 25 x 17.5 cm.

Paisey 8 (2002, Catalogue of German printed books to 1900); Dodgson I.237 and 241 (1903–11, Catalogue of Early German and Flemish Woodcuts in the BM, 2 vols).

See also the description of this book offered by the British Museum: (scroll at lower edge for these plates) https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1904-0206-1-1-96.  

Condition: strong and well-printed, lifetime impressions (based on the quality of line showing no sign of wear to the printing plate) trimmed on, or slightly within, the image borderline. I may be wrong but I believe that the lower borderline on the image of the twenty-one elders is a very dark blue—the handiwork of an earlier collector? —and there are traces of pencil, otherwise, the sheet is in an excellent condition for its considerable age with no tears, holes, folds, stains or foxing.

I am selling this double-sided leaf of two remarkably beautiful and large woodcuts published in 1491, for AU$373 in total (currently US$249.96/EUR229.29/GBP200.50 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 marvellous double-sided woodcut leaf, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This leaf of woodcuts has been sold

Printing update

 

In my previous post I mentioned that I’ve been straining my arms on a baby printing press making prints … well this post is dedicated to showing what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks.

The first image (above) is developed from a photo I took at Milford Sound (New Zealand) around Christmas time last year. I initially made the watercolour shown on the right and then (with lots of free latitude for doing whatever I wished) I executed the print on the left using drypoint on aluminium plate.

No. 2 image is a watercolour “fix up” of one of the less successful impressions … and I quite like it!

No. 3 is another drypoint on aluminium. This one is based on a photo taken at a lookout in Kalbarri (Western Australia) that the cook and I visited earlier last year. I’m presently committed to working in drypoint while I wait for an order of copper sulphate—the blue stuff kids have in their chemistry sets—which can be mixed with table salt as a mordent for etching aluminium.

No. 4 is an experiment. I placed the freshly inked plate onto a rolled-out smudge of ochre oil paint to give the otherwise b&w print a blush of colour. Sadly, my printing of the plate was rushed and not well planned and I should be able to refine my approach next time.

No. 5 is trying out a sheet of papyrus paper that I acquired many years ago. It sort-of worked out ok in a dull and fuzzy way.

No. 6 Is an attempt to use sandpaper to scratch in a sky tone.

No. 7 is a scrap of a bigger plate that I quite liked and couldn't stop playing with.

No. 8 shows where the No. 7 scrap of a print fits into a larger scene. I needed to cut the original plate into two sections as the image seemed a tad flappy and lost.

No. 9 & 10 (detail) is a watercolour that was the starting point for the previous (no. 8) print.