Horace Vernet’s lithograph, “L'homme entre deux âges et ses deux maîtresses”, 1818

Horace Vernet (aka Émile Jean Horace Vernet) (1789–1863)

“L'homme entre deux âges et ses deux maîtresses” (Middle-aged man and his two mistresses), 1818, from the series of 120 lithographs in total with 20 executed by Horace Vernet, 64 by his father, Carle (Antoine Charles Horace) Vernet (1758–1836) and 36 by his brother-in-law, Hippolyte Lecomte (1781–1857), to illustrate the two volumes of “Fables Choisies de La Fontaine” (Selected Fables of La Fontaine), published by Imprimerie de Fain (fl.1784–1877) in 1818 and printed by Godefroy Engelmann (1788–1839) in Paris.

This is impression is from the first volume (the second plate by Horace) illustrating the seventeenth fable: (transl.) “The Old Woman at all times carried away a bit of the remaining black hair … The youngster also ransacked the white hairs. Both did so much, that our gray head remained hairless …”.

Lithograph on wove paper with margins (as published), backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 25.2 x 34.7 cm; (image borderline) 19.1 x 24.4 cm.

Inscribed on stone within the image borderline: (lower right) “H Vernet”.

Lettered on stone below the image borderline: (centre) “L'homme entre deux ages, et ses deux maitresses”; (right) “Imp. Lith de G Englmann.”

Beraldi 128–146 (Henri Beraldi 1885-92, “Les graveurs du 19e siècle; guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes”, vol. 12, p. 219, cat. nos. 128–146; see this catalogue online offered by archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/lesgraveursdu19e12berauoft/page/218/mode/2up/);

Buisard 59 (L M Buizard 1826, “Catalogue de l'oeuvre lithographique de Mr. J.E. Horace Vernet ...”, imp. de J. Gratiot, p. 18, cat. no. 59; see this catalogue online offered by archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/cataloguedeloeu00buizgoog/page/n30/mode/2up).

Condition: strong impression with margins as published and laid onto a support sheet of millennium quality washi paper. There are scattered dot-like marks (e.g. below the image borderline and a dot stain in the sky to the right of the tree) and there is a collector’s ink stamp verso, otherwise the sheet is in an excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions or signs of foxing).

I am selling this marvellously fresh lithograph exemplifying one of the first uses of the medium of lithography in illustration—for the total cost of AU$156 (currently US$94.79/EUR86.60/GBP76.54 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 superb example of Horace Vernet’s dazzling facility to execute a composition in an amazingly short period of time—on one lithograph he even wrote “fait en dix minutes” (done in ten minutes)! (see Daniel Harkett & Katie Hornstein [2017], “Horace Vernet and the Thresholds of Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture”, Dartmouth College Press, p. 33)—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.