Carl Agricola, “Virgin and Child”, 1809. after Hans Holbein the Younger

Carl Agricola (aka Carl Joseph Aloys Agricola; Karl Josef Aloys Agricola; Carl Joseph Alois Agricola) (1779–1852)

“Virgin and Child” (aka “Maria mit dem Kinde” [Andresen title]; “Mary with the Child”), 1809, after Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543).

Etching with stipple engraving on fine wove (Japon) paper, trimmed with a small margin around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 13.7 x 11.2 cm; (platemark) 11.5 x 9.8 cm; (image borderline) 11.2 x 8.7 cm.

Inscribed in plate outside the image borderline: (left edge) “Hans Holbein pinx. amno 1567”; (right edge) “C. Agricola sc. 1809.”

And. 8 (Andreas Andresen 1870, “Handbuch für kupferstichsammler” [Handbook for Copperplate Collectors], vol. 1, Leipzig, T. O. Weigel, p. 7, cat. no. 8 [see https://archive.org/details/handbuchfrkupfe00andrgoog/page/6/mode/2up]).  

See also the descriptions of this print offered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Harvard Art Museums: https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/10755 & https://hvrd.art/o/277189.

Condition: a strong and well-printed (near faultless) impression with a small margin around the platemark and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins. The sheet is in an excellent condition for its considerable age with no tears, holes, folds or significant stains.

I am selling this sensitively executed and rare etching for AU$246 in total (currently/approximately US$167.86/ EUR150.22/ GBP126.03 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$246) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this exceptionally beautiful etching, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Charles Jacque, “Portrait of Jules Luquet”, 1866 (2nd copy)

Charles Jacque (aka Charles Émile Jacque) (1813–1894)

“Portrait of Jules Luquet” (aka “M Jules Luquet, Directeur de la Société des Aquafortistes”), 1866, a rare impression before lettering and numbering for publication as plate 241 for the fifth volume of prints, “Eaux-Fortes Modernes”, produced by the Société des Aquafortistes (see an impression from the lettered state held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art [https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/255984] and an impression from the first state before the addition of aquatint offered by Gallerie Paul Prouté [https://galeriepaulproute.fr/estampes/13630-jacque-portrait-de-jules-luquet]). Note that Jules Luquet (1824–?)—the subject of this portrait—not only collaborated with Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) as co-founders of the firm, Cadart & Luquet (fl.1863–1867), who published this print in Paris, but he is also the director of the Société des Aquafortistes (Society of Etchers) who sponsored the publication. Although Jules Luquet is a printer, Auguste Delâtre (aka Auguste Marie Delâtre) (1822–1907) is shown as the printer in the publication details of the final state.

Etching with aquatint and plate tone on laid paper with a partial watermark and generously wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 50.7 x 34.3 cm; (platemark) 31.7 x 23.8 cm; (image borderline) 25.5 x 20.5 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (upper-left corner) “Ch. Jacque 1866.”

Beraldi 437 (Henri Béraldi 1889, “Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle: Guide de l'Amateur d'Estampes Modernes”, vol. VIII, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 180, cat. no. 437); IFF 332 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève 1954, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800”, vol. 11, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, p. 117, cat. no. 332).

See also the description of this print offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1867-1214-2.

Note that this is the second impression of this etching that I have listed (see https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2021/05/charles-jacques-etching-m-jules-luquet.html). The previous copy was from the lettered state and has been sold.

Condition: a richly inked and near faultless early impression before lettering for publication with generously wide margins in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this historically important portrait of a leading printer, publisher and advocate of the Etching Revival movement of the late 19^th century that promoted original etchings (as opposed to reproductive engravings) as a significant art form, for AU$323 in total (currently US$219.91/EUR197.46/GBP166.09 at the time of posting this print) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$323) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this masterwork of portrait etching executed with the utmost skill and confidence by one of the luminaries of the Barbizon School, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Goya, “Franco. Goya y Lucientes, Pintor”, 1799

Francisco de Goya (aka Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes; Francisco Goya) (1746–1828)

“Franco. Goya y Lucientes, Pintor”, 1799, from the second edition published in c.1855, Plate 1 (Frontispiece) to the series, “Los Caprichos.”

Etching, aquatint, drypoint and engraving on wove paper, trimmed within the platemark and “restored” with paint made from a crushed hornet. The sheet is laid upon a support of heavy wove paper (Dutch Etch).

Size: (sheet) 19.1 x 14.7 cm; (image borderline) 13.7 x 11.3 cm.  

Lettered (with losses) outside the image borderline with title and plate number.

Harris 36.III (Tomás Harris 1964, “Goya: Engravings and Lithographs”, Oxford, Bruno Cassirer); Delteil 38 (Loys Delteil 1902, “Le Peintre-Graveur Illustré [XIXe et XXe siècles]”, Paris).

See also the description of this print by the British Museum:  https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1975-1025-420-6.

Condition: The sheet is trimmed with a margin around the image borderline and glued onto a heavy support sheet providing wide margins. There many loses and alterations to the originally very damaged (but original) etching that has now been “restored” with a cream-coloured paint made from a crushed hornet.

This original impression of Goya’s marvellous self-portrait featuring his quizzically and very knowing eye peering towards the viewer was once in a shocking state of damage with its surface so eaten by insects that it resembled the surface of the moon. In short, the print was in a such a poor condition that I thought that it was ready for the bin. That was, until I decided to lovingly restore it using a crushed hornet as the patch-up paint pigment. Although there might be many who may be disappointed with my pigment choice for the restoration—some may even be angry with my decision—as I too agree that using powdered hornet does lean to being bizarre and disrespectful of a great artist’s work. Nevertheless, I believe that Goya may not be highly offended and might even see my solution to restoring his self-portrait as appropriate for a satirical folio of images.

Technique for making hornet paint used in restoring the Goya self-portrait:

1. Find the carcass of a dead and dried out hornet

2. Crush the hornet in a mortar and pestle—I fragmented the hornet in a blender as well

3. Cover the ground hornet with Coca-Cola and leave for a day (or two) to dissolve

4. Add Ethanol to the Coca-Cola and hornet syrup to kill any potential bacteria

5. Allow the liquid to evaporate leaving the hornet to become dust

6. Choose a suitable medium to use the hornet dust as a paint pigment

(I chose an acrylic medium to mix with the hornet dust, but no doubt egg tempera or a glue medium would have been fine.)

I am selling this heavily restored, nevertheless, an original impression of Goya’s famous self-portrait that served as the frontispiece for his highly celebrated series, “Los Caprichos”, for AU$403 in total (currently US$272.19/EUR244.72/GBP206.87 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$403) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this “restored” impression of one of Goya’s most famous prints with many significant alterations, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Achille Hubert Lefèvre, “Plate 1: Study of the Left Ear”, c.1830, after Gédéon François Reverdin

Achille Hubert Lefèvre (aka Hubert Lefevre) (fl.1800–1815 [BM dates])

“Plate 1: Study of the Left Ear” (descriptive title only), c.1830, crayon-manner stipple engraving after a drawing by Gédéon François Reverdin (1772–1828), published in Paris in 1830 by G.F. Reverdin as an illustration to “Cours complet d'études pour la figure: d'après les plus beaux modèles de l'antiquité et les tableaux des grands maîtres” (Complete course of studies for the figure: based on the most beautiful models of antiquity and the paintings of the great masters) (see https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009329638/page/n57/mode/2up).

Crayon-manner stipple engraving on laid paper with wide margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 31 x 44.7 cm; (plate) 26.6 x 33.7 cm.

Inscribed in plate: (upper left) “IV: C:”; (upper right) “Pl. 1.”; (lower left) “G. Reverdin del^t”; (lower centre) “A Paris, chez Reverdin rue du Sentier N^o.15. Et chez les principaux M^ds. d’Estampes. […] Déposé a la Bibliotheque. Imp^le.”; (lower right) “H. Lefevre Sc”.

I understand that the publication was issued as a series of twelve notebooks (see p. 2:  https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009329638/page/(2)/mode/2up) and that this plate must be from one of the first five notebooks, as the introductory text advises: (transl.) “ To facilitate study, we took care, in the first five notebooks, to engrave next to the line alone the same shaded part; by this means, the student will have the advantage of seeing the clearly drawn line in his model, and will at the same time be able to know the real shape of the object, by casting his eyes on the same shaded part” (ibid).

The British Museum offers the following description of the publication: “Premiers Élémens du Dessin au Trait. Pour servir d'introduction au Cours complet d'Etudes pour la Figure […] containing 74 numbered plates showing details of faces, hands, feet and limbs from classical sculptures and Old Master paintings for the use of artists, after drawings by G. Reverdin. Including 6 plates from a ‘Supplément’, 6 plates depicting Christian saints after Leonardo, Romano, Raphael and others, and engraved titlepage with profiles of faces and a laurel wreath inscribed ‘Raphael’ and ‘L. de Vinci’ (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1869-0410-1705-1778).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression with wide margins. Beyond minor surface marks, the sheet is in a very good condition with no tears, holes, folds or significant stains.

I am selling this remarkably fine stipple engraving designed as a drawing model for art students in the early 1800s to copy, for AU$222 in total (currently/approximately US$150.12/ EUR134.92/ GBP114.01 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$222) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this very beautiful classical study, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Hans Springinklee, “A Delegation of Portugal before a King and a Prince”, c.1516

Hans Springinklee (1490/95–[after]1527)

“A Delegation of Portugal before a King and a Prince”, c.1515, plate 156 of 235 plates executed variously by Hans Burgkmair, Leonhard Beck and Leonhard Schäufelein, published in Vienna in “Der Weiß Kunig. Eine Erzehlung von den Thaten Kaiser Maximilian des Ersten.” (“The White/Wise King. A story about the deeds of Emperor Maximilian I”), in 1775 with the first proofs (without the plate number) printed between 1514 and 1516; see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1850-0511-955-1191.

Note that “The Illustrated Bartsch” (vol. 11, p. 158) reproduces two image variants of this print (cat. nos. 80.221 & 80.222] featuring different lower right sections with the crest held by the standing courtier. By design, the crest changes according to the context in which the print is employed. In the image shown here, the crest is that of Portugal (see the crest of Portugal at the upper left in “The Emperor Seated on His Throne …” (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/754961) and I suspect (but may be very wrong) that the context of this print concerns ambassadors from Portugal asking for the hand of Princess Eleanor. In TIB 11.80.221 the portrayed delegation is from Denmark and in TIB 11.80.222 the portrayed delegation is from Hungary.

Woodcut (composite of two plates) printed in a warm black ink on laid paper trimmed with a narrow margin around the image borderline and backed with a support sheet providing wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 24.9 x 24 cm; (image borderline) 24 x 21.5 cm.

Condition: a well-printed impression from clearly worn printing plate(s)—trimmed with a narrow margin and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins. The sheet is in an excellent condition for its considerable age with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or stains.

I am selling this interesting example of a large woodcut composed of two plates with the lower right plate designed to be interchanged with different variations to the composition—to my mind, this use of an interchangeable plate is the Renaissance equivalent of today’s digital manipulation—for AU$276 in total (currently/approximately US$186.34/ EUR167.41/ GBP141.07 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$276) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this Renaissance period woodcut precursor to Photoshop—in this impression the lower right features three kneeling/genuflecting ambassadors with a courtier holding the crest of Portugal while in other impressions the nationality of the visiting dignitaries to the royal court change—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.