Antoine Ponthus-Cinier’s etching, "Chiens Verts", 1866

Antoine Ponthus-Cinier (aka Antoine-Claude Ponthus-Cinier) (1812–1885)

"Chiens Verts" (inscribed on plate), 1866, plate 257 for the fifth volume of prints, “Eaux-Fortes Modernes: Originales et Inédites”, featuring sixty prints (the plate numbering continues from the fourth volume and begins in the fifth volume with plate number 241) produced by the Société des Aquafortistes, published in September 1866–August 1867 by Cadart & Luquet (fl.1863–1867) in Paris and printed by Auguste Delâtre (aka Auguste Marie Delâtre) (1822–1907).

Note: the curious title of this print, “Chiens Verts” (Green Dogs), may be a misspelling inscribed on the plate. The National Gallery of Australia proposes that the title may have been intended to be, “Chêne Vert” (Holmoak)—described by Google Translate as “an evergreen southern European oak, with dark green glossy leaves” (see https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=35053&pictaus=true).

Etching on chine collé (China) on laid paper watermarked “AQUA-FORTISTES” with wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 52.9 x 36.2 cm; (plate/chine collé) 24.3 x 14.7 cm; (upper image borderline) 2 x 13.8 cm; (lower image borderline) 20.6 x 13.8 cm.

Numbered on plate above the borderline of the upper image (right) "257."

Inscribed on plate within the lower image borderline (upper right) "P CINIER" with the letter, "N", in reverse.

Lettered on plate below the lower image borderline: (left) "P. Cinier sculp./ Paris, CADART & LUQUET, Editeurs."; (centre) "CHIENS VERTS."; (right) "Imp. Delâtre, Rue St. Jacques, 303,Paris."

Blindstamped in the margin (lower centre) with the seal of Cadart & Luquet.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

"Plate 257: trees beside river, steep hill behind; with additional image at top, view of bridge" (https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1346945&page=1&partId=1&searchText=ponthus-cinier%20).

Condition: richly inked and near faultless impression with generously wide margins in near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, foxing or signs of handling).

I am selling this eye-catching etching featuring a juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated images and with the intriguing title, “Green Dogs”, for AU$310 in total (currently US$206.03/EUR182.44/GBP157.93 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 wonderful example of 19^th century Romanticism, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.