Unsigned steel engraving (6 Ergebnisse)

Zustand: Fair. An original steel engraving of Paris on the Seine, lettered simply "Paris" beneath the image, with the imprint "London. Published by Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, 1832." No artist or engraver is named. The view looks along the river to a long stone bridge of several arches, with tall houses lining the far bank. On the right the river front of the Louvre stretches into the distance, its corner pavilion with steep roofs and dormers in the foreground and a domed lantern above, while people walk along the quay beneath a lamp post. In the foreground fishermen in a rowing boat haul in a net, two laden barges lie moored near the bank, and a tall poplar rises beyond the quay. The print shows Paris in the early years of the July Monarchy, before the great rebuilding of the city under Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, when the quays still kept their working river traffic, small sheds and moored boats. The sky and water are rendered in a fine grained tone that gives the scene a soft, atmospheric quality, a manner made possible by the hardness of steel plates, which could carry such delicate work through long print runs. Thomas Kelly of Paternoster Row was one of the most successful London publishers of books issued in weekly numbers, selling geographies, histories and collections of voyages and travels to a wide readership in the first half of the nineteenth century. By the early 1830s many of his plates were engraved on steel, as this one is. The particular book in which it appeared is not named on the sheet. It is an attractive early view of Paris for lovers of the city and collectors of French topography, and it would look well in a hallway, bedroom or study in a slim gilt or black frame. Condition: Good condition for its age. Toning, foxing and light staining in the margins, and a pale stain in the sky at the upper left of the image. Please review the images for further condition details. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. Size: H 19 cm x W 24 cm x D 0.02 cm Stock number: BG-14391-45.…

Zustand: Fair. This antique steel engraving of Stonehenge from the south west, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, is an original print published in London by Thomas Kelly of 17 Paternoster Row in 1831. The plate is lettered "Stonehenge, from the South West." and carries Kelly's dated imprint. The view shows the great stone circle standing on the open downland, its trilithons, leaning uprights and fallen stones set against a broad, cloud filled sky, with a flock of birds wheeling to the right. A small carriage of sightseers drawn by a horse approaches from the left, a lone figure stands among the stones at the far right, and in the foreground a shepherd sits on the grass with his dog while his flock grazes nearby. The combination of rural life and early tourism appears in many views of the monument from this period. Stonehenge was already one of the most visited antiquities in England, and its origin was still a matter of lively debate among antiquaries. The imprint reads "London: Published by T. Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, 1831." Thomas Kelly was one of the most successful London publishers of part works in the early nineteenth century, issuing geographies, histories and collections of voyages in weekly numbers for a wide readership. No engraver is named, and the book in which the plate appeared is not named on the sheet. The print is uncolored, with fine ruled work in the sky and rich tonal shading in the shadowed stones, which gives the scene an atmospheric, slightly romantic mood. It would suit a collector of Wiltshire topography or prehistoric monuments, and it would look well in a hallway, study or country interior, framed simply in oak or black. Condition: Good condition for its age. Toning with foxing and light staining to the margins; a ragged tear and small loss at the upper right corner, clear of the image. Please review the images for further condition details. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. Size: H 19 cm x W 25 cm x D 0.02 cm Stock number: BG-14391-41.…

Zustand: Good. A steel engraved portrait lettered "Marquis of Argyll.", showing Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll (1607 to 1661), the leader of the Scottish Covenanters. He is shown half length in armor, with shoulder length dark hair, a turned up mustache and a small pointed beard, a deep collar of scalloped lace falling over a breastplate crossed by a broad pale sash. Beneath the image is the line "Engraved by permission from the original Painting at Inverary." Inveraray Castle on Loch Fyne is the seat of the Campbells, Dukes of Argyll, so the engraving reproduces the family's own portrait. The publisher's line at the foot of the sheet reads "William Mackenzie, London, Edinburgh & Glasgow." No engraver is named. Argyll was the most powerful man in Scotland in the 1640s. Chief of Clan Campbell, he led the Covenanting party against Charles I, fought a long and bitter struggle with the royalist Marquess of Montrose, and on New Year's Day 1651 placed the crown on the head of Charles II at Scone. After the Restoration he was tried for treason and beheaded in Edinburgh in 1661, and he has been remembered ever since both as a statesman of principle and as a formidable political operator. William Mackenzie of Glasgow was one of the most productive Victorian subscription publishers, issuing illustrated reference works, histories and biographies in parts, each with full page portraits of this kind. The style of the plate and the form of the imprint place this issue in the eighteen sixties. The engraving is crisp and well printed, with the steel ruling of the background, the gleam of the armor and the open pattern of the lace all rendered with care. It suits a collection of Scottish history, of Clan Campbell or of seventeenth century portraiture. Condition: Good condition for its age. A few small spots to the margins; faint pencil numbering in the lower left margin. Please review the images for further condition details. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. Size: H 27 cm x W 18 cm x D 0.02 cm Stock number: BG-14343-12.…

Zustand: Good. An original nineteenth century engraved portrait of the British admiral Edward Pellew, first Viscount Exmouth, lettered simply "Exmouth" in an engraved oval cartouche below the image. The admiral is shown at half length, turned slightly to the left, with white hair brushed forward and a heavy, weathered face. He wears full dress naval uniform with gold epaulets, the broad sash of the Order of the Bath across his chest and the stars of his orders on the breast, with a cross hanging at the neck. The portrait is set within a ruled frame with small rosettes in the four corners, and the name below is lettered in white capitals on a shaded oval with flourishes, a style typical of the encyclopedic portrait series of the middle of the nineteenth century. Above the frame at left a small reference is lettered "M.r CL. N.o 450". Edward Pellew (1757 to 1833) was one of the most celebrated frigate captains of the wars with Revolutionary France, famous for the capture of the French frigate Cleopatre in 1793 and for his rescue of the passengers and crew of the wrecked East Indiaman Dutton at Plymouth in 1796. As an admiral he commanded in the East Indies and the Mediterranean, and in 1816 he led the Anglo Dutch bombardment of Algiers that forced the release of more than a thousand Christian captives, for which he was raised to Viscount Exmouth. The engraving is fine and even, with the face built up in delicate stipple and line and the uniform rendered with crisp, dark cuts that give the print a strong tonal range. The sheet has generous margins, and its scale suits a single frame or a group of naval and military portraits. A narrow molding with a wide mat would set off the ornamental frame and the lettered cartouche, and the portrait would sit well in a study, a library or alongside marine prints of the Napoleonic period. Condition: Good condition for its age. A few spots to the upper margin; a small stain and pencil numbering in the lower margin; a fold along the right edge. Please review the images for further condition details. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. Size: H 23 cm x W 14 cm x D 0.02 cm Stock number: BG-14343-3.…

Zustand: Good. A steel engraved portrait of the Scottish poet, songwriter and journalist Charles Mackay, shown in later life. He is seen half length and turned to the right, with long, swept back gray hair, a dark coat with a velvet collar and a loosely tied bow at the neck, set against a finely ruled background within a single ruled border. Beneath the image is his facsimile signature, "Chas Mackay", the only lettering on the sheet; no artist, engraver or publisher is named. Charles Mackay (1814 to 1889) was born in Perth and worked as a journalist in London and Glasgow, where he edited the Glasgow Argus, before joining the Illustrated London News, which he later edited. His songs, among them "Cheer! Boys, Cheer!", were sung across the English speaking world, and during the American Civil War he reported from New York for The Times. He is best remembered today for Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, first published in 1841, a study of financial bubbles and mass manias that has never gone out of print and is still quoted whenever markets lose their heads. The engraver has worked the face in fine stipple, which gives the skin its softness, and the clothing and background in line, the usual division of labor in the best portrait plates of the period. Presenting an eminent sitter with a facsimile signature in place of a printed caption was a favorite device of the biographical portrait galleries of the eighteen seventies, and the sitter's age, about sixty, points to a date around 1875. It is a quietly handsome portrait, well suited to a study or library, and of special interest to readers of Mackay's book on popular delusions, to collectors of Scottish literary portraits and to anyone drawn to the history of financial manias. Condition: Good condition for its age. Even toning and light soiling; soft handling creases to the upper edge and a faint diagonal crease in the lower right margin, clear of the image. Please review the images for further condition details. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. Size: H 23 cm x W 14 cm x D 0.02 cm Stock number: BG-14343-2.…

Zustand: Good. An original steel engraved portrait of Sir Francis Crossley, lettered beneath the image "Sir Francis Crossley, Bart." and published by William Mackenzie, whose imprint reads "William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh & London." No painter or engraver is named on the plate. Crossley is shown three quarter length, standing and turned slightly to the left, with a full flowing beard and side whiskers. He wears a loose frock coat with a velvet collar over a buttoned waistcoat with a watch chain, and his right hand rests on the back of a chair holding a pair of gloves. The figure is set against a dark engraved ground, and the even, closely observed treatment of the cloth and the face suggests a likeness taken from a photograph. Sir Francis Crossley (1817 to 1872) was a partner in John Crossley and Sons of Dean Clough Mills in Halifax, which grew under him and his brothers into one of the largest carpet manufacturers in the world. He was a notable benefactor of his town, giving Halifax the People's Park, laid out by Joseph Paxton and opened in 1857, together with almshouses and an orphanage. He sat in Parliament for Halifax and later for the West Riding, and was created a baronet in 1863, the title used on this plate. William Mackenzie of Glasgow was one of the busiest Victorian subscription publishers, issuing illustrated biographical dictionaries, histories and family books in parts, many of them with full page engraved portraits printed on separate leaves like this one. The baronetcy of 1863 and the imprint together place this printing about 1865 to 1875. The portrait is printed in black on a sheet with wide margins. It is a strong image for a collector of Yorkshire history, of the textile industry or of Victorian philanthropy, and frames well in a narrow dark frame with a deep mat. Condition: Good condition for its age. A small spot to the upper right margin; faint pencil numbering in the lower margin. Please review the images for further condition details. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. Size: H 27 cm x W 18 cm x D 0.02 cm Stock number: BG-14343-18.…