Edouard Levy Montefiore’s etching, “Rue dans une Ville, au Japon”, c1872

Edouard Levy Montefiore (aka Eliezer Levi Montefiore) (1820–1894)—the first director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia)

“Rue dans une Ville, au Japon” (Street in a Town, Japan), c1872, proof-state impression with scratch lettering before formal lettering and publication by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) in Paris for the art journal, “L'Illustration Nouvelle”, 1872, plate no. 153.

Etching and aquatint printed with a warm black ink on buff coloured Japanese paper with wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 28.2 x 39.2 cm; (plate is too soft to give exact measurements); (image borderline) 10.7 x 16.7 cm.

Inscribed on plate below the image borderline; (left) “Rue dans une ville de Japon”; (right) “E.L. Montefiore”.

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) offers a description of this print in its published state:

https://cs.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=77363; see also http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/impressions/1938/.  

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) offers marvellous biographical insights about this artist:

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/an-enthusiastic-amateur-of-the-arts-eliezer-levi-montefiore-in-melbourne-1853-71/

Condition: a richly inked, near faultless scratch lettered impression with generously wide margins on very thin paper in near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling. There is a pencil inscription from a previous collector giving the title of the print and the artist’s name on the lower edge of sheet.

I am selling this exceptionally rare, proof state etching in museum-quality/near faultless condition for a total cost of AU$314 (currently US$245.35/EUR198.78/GBP179.60 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 etching showing a scene of rural Japan as perceived by an artist who was born in Barbados, trained in London and worked in Australia, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.