Ch. Birrer’s etching, “Le Bénédicité”, 1892, after Walter Gay

Ch. Birrer (fl.1892)

“Le Bénédicité” (aka “The Grace”; “The Blessing”), 1892, after Walter Gay’s (1856–1937) painting exhibited at the Salon of 1888 and now in the Musée du Luxembourg (as inscribed in plate), printed by A. Clément (fl.c.1887–1892) and published in Paris in the art periodical, “L’Art” in 1892. Note that the Louvre Museum (Prints and Drawings Study Room) holds a pastel and pencil drawing (1888) of the same composition by Walter Gay: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl020500401.

Etching and drypoint on cream laid paper (partial watermark, “ARCHES”) with full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 43 x 30.2 cm; (plate [soft]) 37.2 x 26 cm; (image borderline) 31.3 x 21.3 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (lower left) “[CH?]. BIRRER sc.”; (lower right) “WALTER GAY”.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Walter Gay pinx./ L’Art”; (centre) “LE BÉNÉDICITÉ/ ( Musée du Luxembourg )”; (right) “ Ch. Birrer sc./ Imp. A. Clément_Paris”.

Léonce Benedite’s (1898) in the catalogue raisonné of the Musée National du Luxembourg’s collection, offers the following description of this print: (transl.) “In a glass interior letting in, behind the white curtains, on a clear and mild day, an old peasant woman, her hair hidden in a coloured handkerchief, is seated, in profile to the left, in front of the table on which her soup is placed, hands folded, and collected in prayer” (p. 92, cat. no. 302 [https://archive.org/details/lemuseenationald00muse_2/page/92/mode/2up).

See also the description of this print offered by the Panizzi Library (Collezioni Digitali Reggiane): http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12835/86649.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression with full margins as published in a near pristine condition.

I am selling this very beautiful etching executed with great mastery by a now sadly and shockingly forgotten printmaker (apart from this outstanding print) for the total cost of AU$268 (currently US$179.24/EUR163.61/GBP140.56 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 exceptionally fine etching showing an elderly Breton woman (forgive me if I am wrong about this) seated at a table and blessing her meal in a lightly curtained seaside room, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.