Pieter de Jode II, “Adam de Coster”, 1630–45, after Anthony van Dyck

Pieter de Jode II (also known as Petrus de Iode) (1606–1674)

“Adam de Coster” (or “Portret van Adam de Coster”), 1630–45

Contextual Commentary:

The sitter is the Flemish painter Adam de Coster (c. 1586–1643), a prominent member of the Antwerp Caravaggisti—a group of artists influenced by Caravaggio. De Coster was known as a pictor noctium, or “Painter of Nights,” for his dramatically lit nocturnal scenes. The Latin inscription beneath the portrait, “PICTOR NOCTIVM MECHLINIENSIS,” means “Painter of Nights from Mechelen,” a city in Flanders also known by its French name, Malines.

The image is based on Anthony van Dyck’s (1599–1641) grisaille painting in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House (inv. no. 191). The British Museum also notes a related grisaille in the Musée Bonnat, Bayonne (inv. no. 938), and a preparatory black-chalk drawing in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt (inv. no. 789). See British Museum inv. no. R,1a.85.

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving and etching on laid paper with a grape watermark of French origin, with wide margins as published.

The print belongs to the celebrated series after Van Dyck, Icones Principum Virorum.

This impression is from the final state, state six of six. In this state, the initials of the mid-17th-century publisher Gillis Hendricx have been burnished out. Their complete removal distinguishes the later edition published by Arkstée & Merkus in Amsterdam and Leipzig around 1750.

The impression is richly inked and finely printed, with no visible signs of plate wear. Aside from a collector’s ink stamp on the verso and faint pencil notations along the lower edge of the recto, the sheet is in excellent condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, and significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 36.2 x 25.2 cm
• Platemark: 23.4 x 16.8 cm
• Image borderline: 21.5 x 16.3 cm

In-Plate Lettering (below the image):

• Left: “Ant. van Dyck pinxit / Petrus de Iode sculpsit.”
• Centre: “ADAM DE COSTER. / PICTOR NOCTIVM MECHLINIENSIS.”
• Right: “Cum priuilegio”

References:

• Mauquoy-Hendricx (Van Dyck) 31: Marie Mauquoy-Hendrickx, L’iconographie d’Antoine van Dyck: Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1 (Brussels: Royal Library Albert I, 1991), p. 127, cat. no. 31.
• New Hollstein Dutch 56: Simon Turner, The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts 1450–1700, vol. 2 (Rotterdam: Sound and Vision, 2002), p. 28, cat. no. 56.
• Rijksmuseum, object number RP-P-OB-7850: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200209470
• British Museum, museum number 1863,0509.901: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1863-0509-901

Price & Shipping:

AU$288 (approximately US$202.62 / €181.46 / £151.33), including worldwide express shipping. Any applicable import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

To enquire about this fine portrait of Adam de Coster, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I’ll be happy to send you a PayPal invoice for a straightforward payment.

Please note: The scan contrast has been digitally enhanced to show the print’s details more clearly. As a result, the image tones may not fully reflect the subtle tonal qualities of the original.

Alphonse Leroy, “Plate XXIII: Caryatid”, c. 1858

Alphonse Leroy (aka Alphonse Alexandre Leroy) (1820–1902)

“Plate XXIII: Caryatid”, c. 1858

Contextual Commentary:

Although the plate bears the historic title, “Caryatid”, and is lettered on the lower left as being after a drawing by the Italian painter and sculptor, Daniele da Volterra (1509–1566)—“Dessiné par Daniel de Volterre.”—Guermonprez and Lothe (2007) in their catalogue of Leroy’s prints propose that the subject “actually depicts a man with one leg bent behind him, carrying a load on his left shoulder” (p. 158).

Importantly, the attribution of the original drawing has evolved since Leroy's time. Originally documented in early Louvre inventories under Da Volterra's name, the drawing is currently recognised by the Louvre as a work by Baccio Bandinelli (1493–1560) tentatively depicting Atlas (inv. no. 1504). Fascinatingly, modern scholarship notes the figure's pose directly dialogues with Michelangelo's famous Atlas Slave sculpture.

The historical confusion between these two artists adds a layer of irony to the print: Da Volterra and Bandinelli were artistic polar opposites. While Da Volterra was a loyal disciple embedded in Michelangelo’s closest personal and professional circle, Bandinelli was Michelangelo's bitterest Florentine rival, completely isolated from his sphere.

Curiously, the 19th-century letterer who prepared the copper plate made a significant historical blunder in the lower margin, engraving Da Volterra's dates as "né en 1609, mort á Rome en 1666"—accidentally aging the Renaissance master by an entire century.

Technical Details & Condition:

Crayon-manner engraving printed in sanguine coloured ink on buff coloured chine collé (China paper) on a sheet of blue wove paper as issued.

This is plate XXIII (23) from the series of 31 plates commissioned under the patronage of Count Alfred Émilien O'Hara van Nieuwerkerke (1811–1892) after old master drawings transcribed as engravings to be used as drawing lesson studies (“Cours de Dessin”) in “Collection de dessins originaux de grands maîtres gravés en fac-simile par Alphonse Leroy; avec texte explicatif par MM. F. Reiset et F. Villot, conservateurs du Musée Imperial du Louvre”. The engraving was printed in Paris by L. Eudes and published by Dusacq & Cie around 1860 (with later compiled reissues extending into the 1870s).

The impression is crisp and well-printed—nearly faultless. The sheet is in near-pristine condition, completely free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 53.8 x 33.7 cm
• Chine collé: 45.9 x 27.3 cm
• Image borderline: 37.9 x 23.5 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Above the image: (centre) “COURS DE DESSIN / FAC-SIMILE DES GRANDS MAITRES.”; (right) “PL. XXIII”
• Below the image: (left) “Dessiné par Daniel de Volterre.”; (centre) “Impe. Eudes Paris / Daniel de Volterre, Peintre et Sculpteur, él[è]ve de Michel ange, né en 1609, mort [à] Rome en 1666. / DUSACQ & Cie Boulevart Poissonnière. 14. Paris”; (right) “Gravé par Alphonse Leroy.”

References:

• Guermonprez & Lothe 66 (Paul Guermonprez & José Lothe, “Alphonse Leroy Graveur 1820–1902”, 2007, Paris, Héritage Architecturel, p. 158, cat. no. 66).
• IFF 19 (Jacques Lethève & Françoise Gardey, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: LEPAN–LYS”, vol. 14, 1967, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes, p. 144, cat. no. 19) — Available via Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5489453g/f156.item Note: The BNF's specific institutional exemplar for this entry is an incomplete 1873 compilation containing 26 plates that lacks plate XXIII.

Price & Shipping:

AU$261 (approximately US$183.51 / €1,663.89 / £136.78), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties, if any, are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in purchasing this large crayon-manner engraving designed as a drawing lesson study, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Please note: To show the print's fine details as clearly as possible, the scan contrast has been digitally enhanced. Consequently, the image tones may not be a perfectly faithful representation of the subtleties of the print.

Auguste Feyen-Perrin, “Woman of the Woods”, 1873/5

Auguste Feyen-Perrin (also known as François-Nicolas-Augustin Feyen-Perrin) (1826–1888)
“Woman of the Woods” (Femme de bois), 1873/5

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching on fine Chine collé, mounted on a support sheet of fine laid paper featuring a partial Arches watermark. This print is sheet number 13 from the portfolio series “Mythologische Darstellungen” (Mythological Representations). It was printed and published in Paris in January 1875 by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) as plate number 274 for volume 7 of the influential art periodical “L’Illustration Nouvelle”.

This is a richly inked and well-printed—nearly faultless—impression with generously wide margins. The sheet is in near pristine condition, completely free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, handling marks, or stains.

Contextual Commentary:

While standard reference literature (Beraldi 13; IFF 8) lists this print as a single state, a rare, unlettered working trial proof exists in the British Museum collection. The British Museum copy was officially registered on May 10, 1873, demonstrating that Feyen-Perrin completed engraving the copper plate at least two years prior to its commercial distribution. This specific impression features the full, crisp plate lettering added subsequently for the formal 1875 portfolio publication by Cadart, marking it as the definitive published edition.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 46.8 x 31.2 cm
• Platemark: 23.9 x 15.8 cm
• Image borderline: 16.6 x 8.7 cm

Plate Lettering:

• Above the image: (left) “274.”
• Below the image: (left) “A. Feyen Perrin, del. et sc.”; (centre) “FEMME DES BOIS.”; (right) “A. Cadart, Edit. Imp. 56, B.ard Haussmann, Paris.”

References:

References:

• Beraldi 13 (Henri Beraldi, “Les Graveurs du Dix-Neuvième Siècle: DORÉ - GAVARD,” vol. VI, 1887, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 98, cat. no. 13)
• IFF 8 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: Doré-Folk”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes, vol. 7, 1953, p. 544, cat. no. 8) — Available via Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5489211f/f554.item
• British Museum: Museum Number 1873,0510.3354 — https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1873-0510-3354
• Kunsthalle Bremen: Inventory number 2022/5313 — https://bremen.museum-digital.de/object/19483  

Price & Shipping:

AU$229 (approximately US$161.61 / €144.95 / £121.29), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this eye-catching etching of a mythological woman of the woods, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. Secure payment is handled via PayPal invoice for a smooth, protected transaction.

Please note: To show the print's fine details as clearly as possible, the scan contrast has been digitally enhanced. Consequently, the image tones may not be a perfectly faithful representation of the subtleties of the print.