Charles Jacque, “La Maréchalerie”, 1865

Charles Jacque (aka Charles Émile Jacque) (1813–1894)

“La Maréchalerie” (The Farriery), 1865, printed in Paris by Alfred Salmon (aka Adolphe Ardail; Salmon & Ardail; Alfred Fortuné Salmon) (fl.1863–1894).

Etching with dot-roulette and drypoint on wove paper, trimmed around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 18 x 25.2 cm; (image borderline) 12.9 x 19.7 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: “CH. JACQUE”; (centre) “LA MARÉCHALERIE”; (right) “Imp. A. Solmon à Paris”.

Guiffrey 311 (J.-J. Guiffrey 1868, “L’Oeuvre de Ch. Jacque: Catalogue de ses Eaux-Fortes et Pointes Sèches”, Paris, Lemaire, p. 101, cat. no. 208 [https://archive.org/details/luvredechjacque00guifgoog/page/n113/mode/1up]); IFF 311 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève 1960, “Inventaire du Fonds Francais Apres 1800”, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, vol. 11, p. 116, cat. no. 311).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “A Blacksmith's workshop, with at centre two men shoeing a horse; on the left, a man seen from behind wo[r]king at the anvil; lettered state. 1865/ Etching, with some roulette and drypoint” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1889-0608-236).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression showing no sign of wear to the printing plate—mindful that Jacque worked over the plate with drypoint before lettering for publication—trimmed around the platemark and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins. The sheet is in a very good condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this remarkable etching showing everyday life in a 19^th century French farriery with horses being shod on the right and horseshoes being crafted on the left—my eyes are transfixed by the huge bellows suspended from the roof as I had no idea that farrier/blacksmith’s bellows were so massive…but I guess the forge needed to be hot enough to make metal pliable!—for AU$279 in total (currently/approximately US$185.84/ EUR171.05/ GBP146.14 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. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$279) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this very beautiful etching capturing not only the tonal nuances of the soft light within the workshop, but also a credible visual expression of the space, sounds, smoke, heat and pungent smells of farriers at work, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.