Pierre Etienne Moitte’s etching with engraving, “Venus sur les Eaux”, c1760, after Boucher

Pierre Etienne Moitte (1722–1780)

“Venus sur les Eaux” (Venus on the Waters) (aka “Venus en haar gevolg in het water” [Venus and her retinue in the water]), c1760 (1732–1780 [Rijksmuseum dates]), after François Boucher’s (1703–1770) painting, “The Triumph of Venus” (1740), in the National Museum, Stockholm (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Triumph_of_Venus), published in Paris by Pierre Etienne Moitte.

Etching with engraving on laid paper with a small margin around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 53.8 x 68.5 cm; (plate) 52.2 x 67.4 cm; (image borderline) 47.4 x 65.5 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Peint par F. Boucher”; (centre) “VENUS SUR [Coat-of-Arms] LES EAUX/ Dedieé à Monsieur le Marquis de Jumilhac [Arms] Lieutenant General des Armées du Roy/ Capitaine Lieutenant de la Premiere Compagnie des Mousquetaires [Arms] Servant a la Garde ordinaire de la personne de Sa Majesté/ Lieutenant de Roy dans la Province de Perigord Gouverneur [Arms] de Philippeville et Chevalier de l'Ordre Militaire de S^t. Louis/ A. Paris chez Moitte Grareur a l’entrée de la rue S^t. Victor [Arms] la premiere porte cochere a gauche en entrant par la Place Maubert// Par s[o]n très humble et très obeissant/ Serviteur Sorbet Ecujer”; (right) “Gravé par P.E. Moitte”.

State ii (of ii) with the addition of lettering for publication.

LeBlanc 7 (LeBlanc 7 (Charles Le Blanc 1888, “Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes: contenant le dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations”, vol. 3 Paris, Emile Bouillon, p. 34, cat. no. 7).; Nagler 33 (G.K. Nagler 1840, “Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon oder Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken der Maler, Bildhauer, Kupferstecher, Formschneider, Lithographen, Zeichner, Medailleure, Elfenbeinarbeiter, etc.:Meglinger–Müller”, vol. 9, Munich, E A Fleischmann, p. 354, cat. no. 33).

See also the descriptions of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.212559 & https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl020557796.  

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression with a small margin around the platemark and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. There are restored tears and fractures to the edges and pale stains, nevertheless, the sheet is in a good condition for its age and size.

I am selling this huge and magnificent engraving showing Venus escorted by her usual retinue of nereids, cupids, tritons, doves and sea creatures—I’d like to call them dolphins, but I’ve never seen dolphins like these! —for the total cost of AU$487 (currently US$325.51/EUR294.52/GBP259.26 at the time of posting 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 large masterwork of engraving, 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