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Monday, 19 October 2020

(attrib.) Bernard Salomon’s double-sided woodcut, “Jacob’s Ladder”, c1558

(attrib. by or after) Bernard Salomon (aka Bernard Klein; B Gallo; Bernardus Gallus; Klein Salomon; Le Petit Bernard) (1506/10–c1561) (cf. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1865-0610-460)

Note that there are at least three woodcut artists in the 1500s that were influenced by Bernard Salomon: Pierre Eskrich (c1530–c1590), Thomas Arande (fl.c1532–c1578) and Jean Moni (fl.c1570).

(Recto) “Jacob’s Ladder” and (verso) “Joseph’s Children with Rebeka in Bed and Joseph Cast into the Well” (descriptive titles only), c1558, woodcut illustrations (recto and verso) originally published and printed by Jean de Tournes (1504-1564) in Lyon for Claude Paradin’s (c1510–1573) “Qvadrins Historiqves de la Bible” (see https://archive.org/details/qvadrinshistoriq00para/page/n35/mode/2up) and later republished in “Figures Historiques.”

This impression shows significant changes to the original design. Interestingly, the head of Jacob (recto at lower left) has been recut on a fresh insert of wood wedged into the plate matrix along with another fresh insert of recut wood showing what I read as Joseph leaving Jacob’s house (recto at right). Note also the white “dots” in both impressions (recto and verso) suggesting that the original wood printing plates were both riddled with worm holes.

Size: (sheet) 14.3 x 19.2 cm.

Condition: recto and verso impressions are both very good and trimmed along the image borderlines. The leaf is in an excellent condition for its considerable age with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this leaf of double-sided woodcuts from the mid-1500s showing (on the recto side) Jacob at lower left dreaming of a ladder to heaven and at right the departure of his son (Joseph) on a calamitous journey shown in the verso woodcut where Joseph is cast into a well/cistern by his brothers (at left), marries Rebeka (shown in bed) and then has children (one having a bath in the foreground)—for the total cost of AU$200 (currently US$141.90/EUR120.95/GBP109.24 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) 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 double-sided woodcut featuring multiple events in a single scene and—perhaps even more interesting—the insertion of recut images similar to today’s use of Photoshop (e.g. Joshua’s head and Joseph departing his father on the right side of the recto 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












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