John Sell Cotman’s softground etching, “Harlech Castle, N. Wales”, 1838

John Sell Cotman (1782–1842)

“Harlech Castle, N. Wales”, 1838, plate 29 from the series of forty-nine plates, “Liber Studiorum”, published in London in 1838 by Henry George Bohn (1795/6–1884) in "Liber Studiorum: A Series of Sketches and Studies by John Sell Cotman, Esp."

Soft-ground etching with dot roulette on cream wove paper with wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 36.5 x 26.9 cm; (plate) 18.8 x 12.4 cm.

Inscribed in plate below the image: (centre) "Harlech Castle, N. Wales."; (right) "J.S.Cotman.”

Numbered in plate: (upper right corner) "29."

Popham 322 (Arthur Ewart Popham 1922, "The Etchings of John Sell Cotman." Print Collector's Quarterly, vol. 9, p. 270, cat. no. 322).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print before lettering for publication:

“Plate 29. View of a waterfall, with dead tree branches and rock in a fast flowing river in foreground; bastions of Harlech Castle on clifftop in background at right; two buildings at left side of waterfall, with trees at the front … Soft-ground etching” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1859-0528-181).

See also the descriptions offered by The Tate, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Fine Art Museums of San Francisco:

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/cotman-harlech-castle-north-wales-t11515;

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/789448;

https://art.famsf.org/john-sell-cotman/aurlech-castle-n-wales-plate-29-liber-studiorum

Condition: a faultless impression with generously wide margins in near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling.

I am selling this extraordinarily well preserved and rare soft-ground etching by one of the acknowledged masters of the English landscape, for a total cost of AU$320 (currently US$228.77/EUR202.57/GBP173.13 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 worm’s-eye view of Harlech Castle from the base of a waterfall in a ravine, 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