John Samuel Agar (1773–1858)

(left image) "Plate VII", 1809

(right image) "Plate XLII", 1809

Stipple engravings in sepia on thick laid paper

Size: (sheet) 55.7 x 38 cm; (plate) 27.8 x 22.5 cm

Published by T Payne and J White (presumably as part of the folio, "Specimens of Ancient Sculpture…" published by T Bensley).

Condition: crisp impressions with wide margins. "Plate VII" has three light surface marks (dirt?) towards the middle-left side within the plate mark. There is a repaired 7 cm margin tear that is 1.5 cm away from the plate mark. The paper is clean and in good condition. "Plate XLII" has minor wrinkling. The paper is clean with minor handling marks and 1 cm edge cracks on the lower and right edges.

I am selling this pair of large stipple engravings [deleted] at the time of posting these prints) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. 

If you are interested in purchasing these remarkable renderings of antique sculptures, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

These prints have been sold

Agar's choice to use stippling (i.e. fine dots) to shade his renderings of classical sculptures may be a time consuming process but it is an approach to illustration that allows for sensitive moulding of a sculpture's features. I must point out, however, that one essential principle that Agar uses to create the visual illusion of form is his choice of lighting direction: a light cast from the top-front-left. This angle of lighting is the basis of all great classical drawings as it is the direction that Western viewers read—from left to right. Of course, if an artist were creating an illustration for Arabic/Hebrew viewers then the angle of lighting would be from the reverse side.