Kono Bairei’s two-panel woodcut

Kono Bairei’s two-panel woodcut 

Kono Naotoyo Bairei (Aliases: Choando; Hoppo; Kakurokuen; Kinsen Charryo; Koun Shinsho; Kumo no Ie; Musei Shioku; Nyoi Shansho; Rokuryu; Sanshu Kashitsu; Seika Zembo; Seiryukan; Shijun; Shumpuro; Zaigoan) (1844–95)

“Bird at a Stream” (descriptive title only) (diptych), 1890

from ehon [book], Bairei Hyakucho Gafu Zokuhen [Album of 100 birds], 1890

colour woodcut

(each sheet) 24.7 x 16.6 cm

Condition: both panels are crisp impressions and the paper is in good condition (considering the age of the prints). The right panel has two dot specks in the margin. Each of the two panels has four pin holes from their original binding.

I am selling both prints (i.e. the two panels of the diptych) for a total cost of [deleted] at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing these original woodcut prints by Kono Bairei, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

I can imagine that some viewers—hopefully not too many—would prefer to see the wonderful two-panel woodcuts by Bairei trimmed, glued and abutted so that the two panels can be seen as a single uninterrupted image (as shown in my digital abutment above). Often in the marketplace Bairei's prints—like this fine pair—are merged with glue to satisfy such a desire. For me, however, the trimming and gluing of Bairei’s prints is a shame, as they were originally designed to be two facing pages in a bound book that, when opened, would appear as a single image.

From my standpoint, the borderlines separating a viewer’s reading of the two panels is not a significant hurdle impacting upon looking at the prints. In fact, I believe that the borderlines may even help to articulate a viewer’s reading, in the sense that the visual interruption posed by the borderlines helps to slow down a viewer’s reading.

Etching by Jacques-Louis David’s son, Charles-Louis Jules David, “Marat, Membre de la Convention”

Charles-Louis Jules David (1783-1854)

“Marat, Membre de la Convention”, 1882, after a painting of the same name executed in 1793 by his father, Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825).

Etching on chine-collé washi paper on cream wove paper

Size: (sheet) 36.2 x 27.5 cm; (plate) 18.9 x 14.8 cm; (image) 16.8 x 12.9 cm

Lettered on the plate below the image: (left) “L. David. prinx.”; (centre) “1793”; (right) “J. David. sc.”

Condition: a well-printed, crisp and richly inked impression with wide margins. The sheet has few faint traces of foxing towards the far edges of the margins, otherwise the sheet is in very good condition.

I am selling this delicately executed print for the total cost of AU$65 (currently US$48.75/EUR43.93/GBP36.97 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this masterly translation of Jacques-Louis David’s painting into etched line, 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

This is the second etching that I have posted recently by Charles-Louis Jules David (the son of the grand Neo-Classical painter, Jacques-Louis David). I suspect that all folk would know this image very well as it has risen to fame as an icon of French culture even if Marat himself may not be a cherished figure by everyone.

Sometimes a reproductive etching of a painting executed solely in black line is more than a mimetic representation. This is certainly the case with this small masterly print. Like the work of a master, the use of line replicates more than the tones of the painting. From my way of looking at the etching, the black lines also suggest passages of translucency and opacity of the painting’s colour. For example, the curved crosshatched lines describing the contours of Marat’s flesh capture the luminosity of the transparency of the glazed colours of the painting in this area in contrast to the straight lines of crosshatching rendering the opaque depth of the background colours. If I may go a little further with this proposal, the mixture of loosely hatched strokes laid over a field of vertical lines describing the textures of the crude table on which the bottle of ink rests projects a solid opaque surface that is very different to the attributes of Marat’s flesh and the far distance.

In terms of black lines representing colours, this notion is not as vague as one might imagine. The code of heraldic representation of colours (e.g. blue is horizontal, red is vertical and black is a combination of horizontal lines over vertical lines … amongst the other colours signified by heraldic code) is still used in electrical engineering—so I am told. Consequentially, at a subliminal level, the arrangement of the different hatched strokes suggest colours. In this reading of the print, the hatched strokes of the background express black, the angled strokes rendering Marat’s body express the heraldic colours of green and purple, and the mixture of strokes rendering the table express a yellow-red.

Etching by Jacques-Louis David’s son, Charles-Louis Jules David, “Bélisaire et l'Enfant”

Charles-Louis Jules David (1783-1854)

“Bélisaire et l'Enfant”, 1882, after a painting of the same name executed in 1780 by his father, Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825).

Etching on chine-collé washi paper on cream wove paper

Size: (sheet) 27.2 x 36 cm; (plate) 8.1 x 11 cm; (image) 7.1 x 9 cm

Lettered on the plate below the image: (left) “L. David. prinx.”; (centre) “1780”; (right) “J. David. sc.”

Condition: a well-printed, crisp and richly inked impression with wide margins. The sheet has few faint traces of foxing towards the far edges of the margins, otherwise the sheet is in very good condition.

I am selling this delicately executed print for the total cost of AU$60 (currently US$44.81/EUR40.76/GBP34.21 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this masterly translation of Jacques-Louis David’s painting into etched line, 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

The reason that I originally purchased this small etching was not because the printmaker was the son of the great Neo-Classical painter, Jacques-Louis David, but rather because I admired the graphic translation of the painting, “Bélisaire et l'Enfant” (1780), into line.

Many reproductive printmakers of the nineteenth century had the skill to duplicate the broad tonal effects of a painting into a network of crosshatched lines, but this print is special in that there is great subtlety in portraying light and shade. For instance, compare the variations of tone ranging from the bright light illuminating Bélisaire’s forehead to the softer lights illuminating the figures’ hands. In this variation of tone, each hand is rendered with a slightly different tonal key and within this tonal key (i.e. a very limited range of tones) the artist is still able to portray fine details and tonal gradations. Such mastery is uncommon, especially in a small image.

Daniel Hopfer’s etching, “Claus Stürtz den Becher”

Daniel Hopfer (1471–1536)

“Kunz von der Rosen” (Bartsch title)/“Claus Stürtz den Becher” (BM title), c1515, possibly after Hans Burgkmair the Elder (1473–1531), published by David Funck (fl. 1682–1709) in the late 17^th century (Soldat allemande assis) F27 (see “The Illustrated Bartsch”, Vol. 17, p. 163).

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed at image borderline with a partial watermark (coat of arms and three crescent moons?)

Size: (sheet) 29.3 x 21.6 cm

Signed with monogram at lower left. The Funck number 27 added there.

Lettered at upper centre: “Claus Stürtz den Becher” and in lower margin: “Ich Stürtz den Becher und die Kandel/ und hab damit ein guten Handel./ Auch finde ich meiner Brüder viel/ Die eben das Liben was ich will.” [Babylon 10 translation of this text from German to English: “I drop the cup and Kandel/ and have a good trading./ I also find my brother much/ The Liben what I want.”]

Hollstein 97.III; Bartsch 17(8).87(493)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Portrait of Conrad von der Rosen, jester at the court of Maximilian I; half-length, seated, turned slightly to left, the head in three-quarter profile; impression from the Funck series. c.1515” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1520794&partId=1&searchText=Hopfer+&page=40)  

(Note: the Funck number on this print signifies that it was published in the seventeenth century by David Funck (fl. 1682–1709) at Nuremberg)

Condition: marvellous crisp and richly inked impression of exceptional rarity trimmed at the image borderline. The sheet is in splendidly clean condition, but with a faint trace of tone (visible on the left side verso) and two minor spots of restoration (visible verso). This print is in a remarkable condition for its age.

I am selling this museum-quality etching by the first artist to use etching for an artist’s print, for the total cost of AU$2000 (currently US$1506.60/EUR1367/GBP1146.60 at the time of posting this) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this highly significant old-master 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

This is a print of exceptional historical importance and rarity. It is so important, in fact, that it should be in a museum as a key exhibit!

There are two reasons for its importance. The first reason is in regard to Daniel Hopfer’s historical significance as an artist: he was the first artist to use the medium of etching to create images designed to be “stand alone” artworks (as opposed to using etching to decorate armour). Or, as the British Museum explains: “He [Daniel Hopfer] was the earliest artist to adapt the practice of etching on iron to printmaking and to make a significant profession out of it” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=120691). The second reason is that this print is one of his best known/most reproduced images.

From a personal standpoint, this is a visually arresting image. Certainly, my attention is caught by the cactus-like spikes on the figure’s costume—the portrayed figure is Maximilian I’s court jester and advisor, Conrad von der Rosen—and his “hands on hips” pose, but there is more to this image than spikes and body language which give the figure a confronting prickly appearance. What I find visually riveting is the pictorial cropping of the figure by the image’s borderline. For me the cropping of the figure’s right elbow and his legs by the borderline, and the almost tangential contact of his left elbow with the borderline, subliminally suggests that he is in my private personal space (i.e. “in my face”). This feeling of unease is heightened by the puff-ball clouds floating on either side of the figure’s head that I read like an miniature storm clouds arising from the figure’s disquieting demeanour. 

Karel Dujardin’s etching, “Mule with a Bell”

 

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Karel Dujardin  (aka Carel Dujardin,; Carel du Jardin; Karel Du Jardin; Bokkebaart) (1626 –78)

“Le Mulet aux Clochettes” [Mule with a Bell], 1653

Size: (sheet) 19.7 x 16.2 cm

Etching on laid paper trimmed on, or within, the platemark

Lettered in lower margin: "K. DV. IARDIN.1653 fe". With the number 29 in the lower right corner.

Bartsch 1.182.29; Hollstein 29.II

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The hinny with the little bell. Landscape with a mule standing at centre, in profile to right, wearing a halter from which two bells hang, two other asses resting in right background, trees enclosed within a straw fence beyond; second state with number. 1653” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1617819&partId=1&searchText=Dujardin+mule&page=1)

Condition: crisp impression trimmed on, or within, the platemark. The sheet is in very good condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, folds or holes), but there are a few scattered dots and there are remnants of mounting hinges (verso).

I am selling this well-preserved original Dujardin etching for the total cost of AU$164 (currently US$122.76/EUR111.67/GBP93.48 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this remarkable print showcasing Dujardin’s skill in representing light, space and subtle differences of texture, 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

 

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Dujardin is famous for his “warts and all” representations of rural life—sheep and cows pissing and pooping accompanied by flies—he is also remembered as a true master of suggesting light, space and mimetic treatments of a full range of textures. For example, note how Dujardin describes the contours of the mule in the foreground (actually a hinny rather than a mule) using only line while simultaneously expressing the surface textures of the mule’s hair. Note also how Dujardin’s treatment of the foreground mule is quite different from his rendering of the mules further back and how well he suggests the spatial distance separating them. Such skill is rare and is the hallmark of great artist.

 

 

 

Samuel Palmer’s etching, “The Early Ploughman”

 

Samuel Palmer (1805–81)

“The Early Ploughman”, or, “The Morning Spread Upon the Mountains”, 1858–60, from the first published state, as issued by Hamerton in “Etching & Etchers,” 1868.

Etching on cream wove paper, printed within the platemark (or trimmed) for publication in “Etching & Etchers”.

Size: (sheet) 16.8 x 25 cm; (image) 13.1 19.8 cm

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Ploughman drives his team of four oxen towards the fields as the sun rises. 1858/60 Etching (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1417049&partId=1&searchText=palmer+Early+Ploughman&page=1) Lister 1988 E.9.v/ix (Lister, Raymond, “Catalogue raisonné of the works of Samuel Palmer”, Cambridge, 1988); Alexander 9 iv/viii

Condition: crisp impression with red edges to the sheet as published in “Etching & Etchers”, 1968. There are a few light spots on the upper margin (recto) and a few pale touches of foxing visible verso; otherwise the sheet is in very good condition.

I am selling this extremely rare, original Samuel Palmer etching for the total cost of AU$698 (currently US$520.99/EUR475.06/GBP397.58 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing a print by one of Britain’s most famous artists, 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

 

An interesting feature of this deeply romantic image—and a feature that my eyes keep returning to—is the portrayed standing woman with a pitcher resting on her head. From what I understand about this curious figure is that her pose is likely to have its origin in William Blake, Edward Calvert and Palmer’s fascination with antique carved gems and coins. Blake, for instance, is known to have copied poses for his figures from Roman bas-reliefs and this particular pose may be found in his watercolour, “Jacob’s Ladder”. Similarly, Calvert’s interest in such a classic pose may be seen in his wood engraving, “The Brook.” Regarding Palmer's interest in antique carvings, he had a plaster cast collection of them and offered one of his students, Miss Wilkinson, the following advice in a letter dated 29 May 1862:

“Mr Newman made me eight or ten of his cedar colour-boxes without partitions, and a little deeper than usual, in which I possess a fine sculpture-gallery, having filled them with casts from the finest antique gems. These are most useful for reference, when working out lines caught from nature. …I would advise you to collect casts from the best antique gems whenever you can get them” (Cf Hardie, Martin, 1928, “Samuel Palmer”, London, p. 13).

 

 

Lithograph by Prud'hon, “Une Lecture”

 

--> Pierre Paul Prud'hon (aka Pierre Paul Prudhon) (1758–1823), printed by Bertauts (1830s–80 fl.), published in “Gazette des Beaux-Arts”, 1870
"Une Lecture", c1822
Lithograph on chine-collé on wove paper
Size: (sheet) 26.6 x 17.4 cm; (image) 18.6 x 14.8 cm
Lettered with production detail: 'Prud'hon inv. et del.', title, and name of printer.
State iv (of iv) 
Goncourt 7 (IV/IV), Béraldi 2, Sanchez & Seydoux 1870-4.
The British Museum curator offers the following description of this print: “woman sitting in an armchair near a window with open book on her knees, turns round and kisses a dove.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1365644&partId=1&searchText=Prud'hon+lecture&page=1)
The curator of the British Museum offers the following information: "Dated c.1822 by Clément; the present copy of the print was published at a later date in the 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts'." (ibid)

Condition: crisp impression in near pristine condition with small margins.

I am selling this extremely rare, curious and highly romantic original lithograph for a total cost of AU$126 (currently US$93.94/EUR85.76/GBP71.77 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. If you are interested in purchasing this intriguing image, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make your payment easy.
(Note that Southby's in their 2015 Bernheimer Day Sale, item 431, offer auction estimate of GBP500 — 700 for this print; see http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2015/bernheimer-day-sale-l15043.html)

 

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Although my knowledge about the meaning of this allegory is cloudy I can at least share the broad symbolic meaning of what a girl holding or intimately engaging with a dove means: lost innocence.

Perhaps the significance of this image relates to Prud’hon’s personal life. For instance, I know that he had a traumatic love affair with one of his ex-pupils, Constance Mayer, who committed suicide in his studio by slitting her throat with a razor after learning that Prud’hon intended to honour his former wife’s wish by choosing to never marry again. I also understand that they are now buried together in the same tomb and so this tragic story may have relevance to this image, but I really don’t know for certain.

For those who may concur that the image may be linked to Prud’hon’s tragedy, the woman portrayed in the print also bears a striking resemblance to Constance Mayer.  It’s all so sad …

 

 

 

 

Caspar Luyken’s emblem etchings

Caspar Luyken (1672–1708) illustrations from James Basnage’s (et al.), 't Groot waerelds tafereel, waar in de heilige en waereldsche geschiedenissen en veranderingen zedert de schepping des waerelds tot het uiteinde van de Openbaring van Joannes, worden afgemaalt”, published in Amsterdam by Jacob Lindenberg, 1705.

(upper image)  “Unveiling of a world globe”, 1705, etching on laid paper

Size: (sheet) 12.3 x 15.9 cm; (plate) 11.2 x 15.3 cm

Ref: Van Eeghen 3289 (P van Eeghen & J P van der Kellen, 'Het Werk van J en CL', Amsterdam, 2 vols 1905).

The Rijks Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The image of the globe is encased in an ornamental frame with floral motifs and two fishes.” http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.146279)

(lower image) “Faith with Cross and Lion”, 1705, etching on laid paper

Size: (sheet) 12.3 x 16.4 cm; (plate) 11.2 x 14.8 cm

Ref: Van Eeghen 3288

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“The effigy of the Faith is encased in an ornamental frame with floral motifs and two lions.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.146278)

Condition: superb impressions with small margins in faultless condition.

I am selling this pair of etchings by one of the significant printmakers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries—Caspar Luyken—for the total cost of AU$140 (currently US$104.90/EUR95.33/GBP79.70 at the time of posting these prints) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this pair of etchings rich in symbolism, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

One of the key ingredients of symbolism in early prints is the notion of duality. For instance, trees were invariably shown in a cycle of death and regeneration, so that a dead or broken tree is often juxtaposed beside a young sapling or a regenerating tree. In the case of these prints, I suspect that the inherent symbolism of using pairs of fish and lions is similarly about representing opposing dualities integrally linked together. Sometimes the arrangement of paired creatures can connote the unity of male and female forces. In these prints, however, the notion of duality is expressed by the mirrored symmetrical arrangement and symbolically very different objects that the lions hold and the linked shells that the fish swim towards.

My personal interest in the duality posed by symmetrical arrangements of fish arose years ago when I saw a carving of a pair of fish bound together in the portico vaulting of a cathedral in Paris—it may even have been Notre Dame, but my memory is a bit soft these days. At the time I was very excited about this image as it seemed like an ideal image for a tattoo. (I should mention that I have an assortment of tattoos with the nautical theme of mudflats and rudimentary fish traps.) After doing a spot of research about the Pisces symbol (i.e. two fish bound together but swimming in opposing directions) I was thrilled to find that this symbol was all about the body and the soul tugging at each other in opposition but which are inseparably connected. For me, at my present time of life the idea of a battle between what the spirit wishes to achieve and what the body allows is a meaningful reality.

(My apologies to specialists in medieval symbolism who know the exact meaning and significance of these emblematic prints and I welcome your advice.)