Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich’s etching, “The Boulder at the Foot of the Mountain”, c1732

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (aka Dietricy; Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietricy) (1712–1774)

“The Boulder at the Foot of the Mountain” (aka “Der Felsblock am Fusse des Berges”), c1732, lifetime impression before the plate is numbered and titled in later states.

Etching on laid paper trimmed with a thread margin around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 5.1 x 12.4 cm.

Inscribed on plate at upper left: “Dietricy”.

State ii (of iv) with the addition of the artist’s signature.

Linck 128 II (J.F. Linck 1846, “Monographie der von C.W.E. Dietrich radierten, geschabten und in Holz geschnittenen malerischen Vorstellungen’, Berlin, Rudolph Weigel, pp. 211–12 [see: https://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/105498/225/0/]).

J.F. Linck (1846) offers the following description of this print:

(Google Transl.) “Almost in the middle of this sheet, at the foot of a high mountain on the right, close to a country road leading to the left, one sees a large, pyramidal boulder erected; where a woman on a horse and a man walking next to her, accompanied by a dog, pass by. On the right in the foreground, by a hill, sits a man, next to whom a pack and a stick are lying.” (pp. 211–12).

Condition: strong impression trimmed around the platemark with a thread margin and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The upper right corner is chipped and restored and the sheet has pale age-toning, otherwise the sheet is in very good condition for its considerable age with no significant stains.

I am selling this intimately small etching that, despite its size, presents a vast panorama radiant in sunlight for AU$252 (currently US$178.67/EUR152.26/GBP138.24 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 this fascinating etching showing a traveller gesturing towards a natural oddity in the landscape—exemplifying the popular interest of the time in natural phenomena and the forces underpinning them—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.