Early 18th Century Figurative Prints

A remarkable eighteenth-century crayon manner engraving by Gilles Antoine Demarteau (1722-1776) after a drawing by Jean-Joseph Taillasson (1745-1809) depicting Saint John of the Cros...

The Roman general Mark Antony dies in the arms of his lover Cleopatra in this finely detailed engraving by Johann Georg Wille (1715-1808) after a 1763 painting by Pompeo Batoni (1708...

This framed original 18th century etching is entitled "Fregio antico di marmo con Ippogrifi, nel cortile del palazzo della Valle" (Ancient Marble Frieze with Hippogriffs in the Courtyard of The Palace of the Valley). The etching is by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, published in Rome in 1778. It is from Piranesi's monumental work "Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcofagi, Tripodi, Lucerne, Ed Ornamenti Antichi", (Vases, candelabra, grave stones...

This is a hand-colored copperplate engraving entitled "Tulipa viridiscoloris, Fritillaria iuncifolns, Allium Vrsinum" depicting flowering tulip, fritillary and wild garlic plants fro...

An 18th century mezzotint engraving by J. Dean after Joshua Reynolds RA. Presented in an antique Hogarth frame. On laid. Image size: 45 x 32cm.

A charming engraving depicting the parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible, found in Luke 15:11-32, after the original painting by Carington Bowles. Inscribed in plate. Presented in...

A hand coloured engraving depicting the fashions of 1735. Well presented in a gilt effect frame. Signed in plate. On laid paper.

A finely detailed engraving by the German painter, engraver, and publisher Johann Elias Ridinger (1698-1767). The work depicts an impressive horse with a mottled coat, being led by a...

Etching with engraving on cream laid paper with a Garden of Holland or Maid of Dort Pro Patria watermark, 11 x 14 1/4 inches (278 x 361 mm), thread margins. Lettered with the title in a cartouche at the top-center sheet, continuing "a Latere Occidentali Prospeus AD MDCCXXXIX," with numbers over the image at right that correspond to a key 1 to 29, and with publication details: "Georgius Vertue Londini delineavit et Sculpsit anno MDCCXXXIX". Multiple expert repairs, notably a Y-shaped, expert paper tape repair on the verso. Handling creases, toning. All issues are consistent with age. An impression of this work may be viewed in the permanent collection of the British Museum, registration No. 1880,1113.3963. A bird's eye view of the college in Broad Street, London, showing the courtyard, adjoining stable yard to the right, and the buildings at the back. This work was included in Frederick Crace...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving entitled "Orobanche, Cicuta Maxima, Sparganium (Bur Reed, Water Hemlock, Broomrape) ", depicting a flowering Bur Reed, Water Hemlock, Broomrape plants from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. This beautiful colorful engraving is printed on thin laid chain-linked paper with wide margins. There us spotting and some discoloration, most prominently in the upper and lower margins. There is irregularity and some loss along the right paper edge. The print is otherwise in excellent condition with striking hand-coloring. The sheet measures 21.5" high and 17.25" wide. Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting Ranunculus (Persian Buttercup) flowers from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. This beautiful colorful engraving is printed on thick laid chain-linked paper. There is latin text on the verso. There are central horizontal creases and two small holes on the right and another in the left lower corner. It is otherwise in excellent condition. Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop...

A beautiful 18th century nautical scene filled with movement and activity. One etching from the series of 10 lively nautical scenes entitled Seascapes. This image depicts four vesse...

A finely detailed engraving with etching by Jan de Visscher (1633-1692) after a painting by Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683). Well presented in a gilt frame. Unsigned. On paper. Image si...

Artist: Jean Berain (the Elder) (French, 1640-1711) Title: "Untitled" (Plate 35) Portfolio: Ornemens Inventez par J. Berain (Ornament Designs Invented by J. Berain) Circa: 1711 (Firs...

A finely detailed etching by Claudio Gellee, better known as Claude Lorrain (1600-1682). This print is a later restrike of a seventeenth-century original, and depicts the myth of Mer...

A fine engraving by Carl Gottlieb Guttenberg (1743-1792) after Benjamin West's (1738-1820) painting, 'The Death of General Wolfe'. The artwork commemorates the 1759 Battle of Quebec,...

La Manière de se Bien Preparer à La Mort is an etching by Romeyn de Hooghe from the Suite by Chertablon de la Vigne, La manière de se bien preparer à la mort. Antwerp: Gallet 1700.  ...

An original 18th century engraving after Jacques Stella (1596-1657). Unsigned. Well presented in a gilt frame with a beaded inner. On paper.

Views of North African cities (Tunis, Algiers, and Jijel) alongside ethnographic descriptions of the "Peoples of Barbary." Paris: Châtelain, 1723. Copperplate engraving on cream la...

Artist: (after) Anthony van Dyck (Dutch, 1599-1641) Title: "Dominus Nicolaus Vander Borcht" Year: 1703 (first or second state of three) Medium: Original Engraving on laid paper Limi...

Le Roy Mene au Trone from the Series Le Sacre de Louis XV  (1722-1731 )  is an etching by French artist Charles Nicolas Cochin the Elder ( 1688-1754...

"Veduta del Sepolcro della Famiglia Plauzia per la Strada Che Conduce da Roma a Tivoli vicino a Ponte Lugano" from "Le Antichità Romane" (Roman Antiquities), one of the most famous works by Piranesi. "Antichita" illustrates the tombs along the Appian Way...

As Florence Ingersoll-Smouse wrote in 1921 in her book devoted to Jean-Baptiste Pater, "a painter of the Fête galante, Pater is interesting both by his intimacy with Watteau, to whom many of his works are still attributed, and by his own value as an artist.” This sanguine, full of life and spontaneity, is typical of the preparatory studies made by the painter to be used later in the composition of his paintings. 1. Jean-Baptiste Pater, pupil and disciple of Antoine Watteau Antoine Pater, Jean-Baptiste's father, belonged to the petty bourgeoisie of Valenciennes where he worked as a merchant-sculptor. His brother Jacques was a local painter who was probably involved in his nephew's training. Born on December 29, 1695, Jean-Baptiste Pater was first trained with Jean-Baptiste Guider, a local painter whose death in 1711 was probably the reason for Jean-Baptiste’s departure alongside Watteau, who was visiting Valenciennes. Watteau's difficult character led to their separation in 1713. Back in Valenciennes, Jean-Baptiste Pater encountered difficulties with the powerful Corporation of Saint-Luke (to which he refused to belong) which forced him to return to Paris in 1718. He reconciled with Watteau shortly before his death (on July 18th 1721), inherited the commissions that Watteau had been unable to fulfil and completed some of his paintings. Pater was accepted by the Académie Royale in 1725 but did not produce his reception painting The soldier’s revels until three years later. Throughout his brief career (he died at the age of forty on July 25th 1736), he mainly had a clientele of amateurs and received only one royal commission, shortly before his death. 2. Description of the drawing and related artworks Pater had adopted his master Watteau's method of composition. His study drawings were carefully glued in a notebook and were used to animate his compositions. His paintings sometimes suffer from a somewhat artificial composition, since the figures seem to be pasted one next to the other. This point has also been made about Watteau’s. The theme of military scenes (which was at the time included in the genre of Fêtes galantes!) was one of Pater’s favourite subjects. Together with the Bathing Women...

(after Federico Zuccari) The image depicts an event which occurred during the Investiture Controversy in 1077. Here we see the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV humbling himself before Pop...

Celestial Music is an original black and white etching on cream-colored paper, realized by Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Elder (1688-1754), the well-known ...

(after Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi) Paris: Imprimerie Royale, c1730. Chiaroscuro woodcut from three blocks (olive, brown, tan), and aquatint on buff laid paper with a heart and cres...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving entitled "Chamemelum Romanum flore simplici (Chamomile), Cincus Sativus (False saffron, Safflower), Chamaemelum Romanum Flore (Roman Chamomile)", depicting flowering Chamomile, Safflower and Roman Chamomile plants respectively from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. This beautiful colorful engraving is printed on thin laid chain-linked paper with wide margins. There are a few small spots and some irregularity of the lower edge. There is some bleed-through of text from the verso. The print is otherwise in excellent condition with striking hand-coloring. The sheet measures 22.25" high and 17.38" wide. Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop...

Amsterdam: Francois Halma, circa 1700. Engraving on laid paper, 13 x 7 3/4 inches (350 x 197 mm); sheet 15 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches (400 x 248 mm), full margins. In very good condition wi...

A classical chiaroscuro woodcut after Raphael executed by Charles Nicolas Cochin Père (1688-1754) & Vincent Le Sueur (1668-1743) . Printed from two bloc...

A large mezzotint by Josiah Boydell (1752-1817) after a 1641 painting by Rembrandt (1606-1669) depicting Cornelis Claesz Anslo (1592-1646), a Dutch businessman and Mennonite preacher...

The Dancing Children,' an engraving by Alexander Bannerman (c.1730) after Antoine Le Nain (1593-1648) published by John Boydell (1720-1804) in 1767. Inscribed within the plate below ...

A finely detailed stipple engraving by William Wynne Ryland (1732-1783) after Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807). The scene depicts the Goddess Juno borrowing the Belt of Venus in her eff...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting flowering "Hyacinthus Comosus Spurius" (Hyacinth), "Hyacinthus Anglicus" (Blue Hyacinth), "Palma ...

A fine prospect image of gardens at Lincoln's Inn, London. A Prospect of Lincoln's Inn; A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster; The Fountain and Gardens in New Square, Lin...

A busy 18th century river scene along Amsterdam's waterfront. One etching from the series of 10 lively nautical scenes entitled Seascapes. This image depicts six vessels, from left ...

A lovely chiaroscuro woodcut by Antonio Maria Zanetti the elder after a work by Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola). Printed on cream laid paper, laid down to a cream lai...

A meticulously detailed etching by Dutch Golden Age artist Adriaen van der Cabel (1631-1705). The scene depicts Saint Jerome - identified by his traditional emblems of a lion, cardin...

A finely detailed engraving by François Vivares (1709-1780) after Claude Lorrain (1600-1682). The scene depicts the maiden Europa seated upon a white bull, which is actually Jupiter ...

World map is an original modern artwork realized by Hubert Nicholas - Jaillot, printed by Louis Cordier in  Paris 1719. Etching on copper The artwork depicts two hemispheres, conti...

This is a hand-colored copper-plate engraving entitled "Gelsiminum Catalonicum, Mairana Latifollia, Euphasiaramosa Pratensis Flore Albo, Euphasia Minus Ramosa Flore Excereruleo Purpurascente", depicting flowering Jasmine, Mountain Laurel...

A finely detailed eighteenth-century engraving by Simon Francois Ravenet (1706-1774) after The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, which was believed to be by Rembrandt (1606-166...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting flowering "Hyosciamus albus and Hyosciamus vulgaris" (Henbane) plants from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensi...

An 18th etching and burin print by Jean Moyreau (1690-1762) based on an original painting by Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668). The scene depicts men cutting and collecting firewood in a...

A fine eighteenth-century mezzotint by Jonathan Spilsbury after Sir Joshua Reynolds's portrait of the Right Hon. Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle. Carlisle inherited his title ...

A hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting flowering "Melocactos" (Turk's Cap Cactus or Mother-in-law's Cushion), "Rosa Hiericontea aperta" (Rose of Jericho Unfolded), "Rosa Hie...

Image dimensions: 15 x 12 cm. Scène de bistrot is a black and white etching with burin interventions on paper realized by an anonymous artist, after the Flemish artist Adrian Van Ostade...

La Chouette is an etching realized by Jacques Blanchon in 1771. Signed in plate. The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et partic...

Religious copper-line engraving by CM after Francesco Petrucci after (Paolo Caliari) Veronese. Depicts Saint Benedict and other holy figures. Paolo Vero...

A humorous hand-coloured mezzotint after John Collet (1725-1780) titled "The Proverb Reversed, or A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand." The print wittily inverts the familiar...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving entitled "Amaranthus Tricolor", depicting a flowering Amaranthus Tricolor plant from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. Amaranthus tricolor, known as edible amaranth, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Amaranthus. The plant is often cultivated for ornamental and culinary purposes. Cultivars have a striking yellow, red, and green foliage. It is known as Joseph's coat in some areas, after the biblical figure Joseph, who is said to have worn a coat of many colors. Amaranthus tricolor is one of several species of amaranth cultivated in warm regions across the world. This beautiful colorful engraving is printed on thin laid chain-linked paper with very wide margins. There is a short crease in the upper right corner, mild irregularity of the left, right and lower edges and some bleed-through of text from the verso. The print is otherwise in excellent condition with striking hand-coloring. The sheet measures 22.13" high and 17.13" wide. Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop...

Map of Lucca is an etching realized by Pierre Mortier in the early 18th Century Good condition.

Artist: (after) Johann Daniel Preissler (German, 1666-1737) Title: "Meridies; Der Mittag (Noon; The Midday)" Portfolio: Die Vier Tageszeiten (The Four Times of Day) Year: 1723 Medium: Original Etching and Engraving on laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: likely Johann Balthasar Probst, Augsburg, Germany Publisher: Jeremias Wolff (Erben), Augsburg, Germany Sheet size: 22.5" x 16.32" Image size: 18.13" x 14.32" Reference: Le Blanc No. 255, 38; Nagler No. 23 Condition: Soft handling creases and folds to sheet. A few light areas of staining and scattered small areas of discoloration in margins. Two small tears skillfully repaired from verso in margins. Has been professionally stored away for decades. It is otherwise a strong impression in good condition with full margins Extremely rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Aspen, CO. Engraved by German artist Johann Balthasar Probst (1673-1750) after a drawing by German artist Johann Daniel Preissler (1666-1737). Comes from Preissler's 1723 "Die Vier Tageszeiten (The Four Times of Day)" portfolio of four etchings and engravings. Printed from one copper plate in one color: black. Descriptions of the portrayed image are printed in Latin and German. Biography: Johann Daniel Preissler, or Preisler (1666–1737) was a German painter and director of Nuremberg's Academy of Fine Arts. He was a notable member of a German artistic family, originating in Bohemia. His children included Johann Justin Preissler (1698–1771), Georg Martin Preisler (1700–1754), Barbara Helena Preisler (1707–1758; married to Oeding), Johan Martin Preisler (1715–1794), and Valentin Daniel Preisler (1717–1765), all in their time renowned artists. Most notable for his portraits, nudes and history paintings, Johann Daniel Preissler also produced drawings and frescoes. He was particularly known beyond his native Nuremberg for his "Die durch Theorie erfundene Practic", a sequence of works on art theory – the individual works were translated into several other languages and served as textbooks for students such as the Swiss Salomon Gessner...

Two young children bid farewell to chickens destined for market in this charming rural scene by William Nutter (1759-1802) after William Redmore Bigg RA (1755-1828). Well presented i...

A father greets his family after a day of labour in this charming rural scene by William Nutter (1759-1802) after William Redmore Bigg RA (1755-1828). Well presented in a gilt-effect...

Motifs decorative is a black and white etching on paper, realized in 1729 by Bernard Picart.   Signed and dated on plate on the lower margin. The artwork is attached on black passep...

Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon born Fernando Martins de Bulhoes 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was born and raised by a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, and died in Padua, Italy. Noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history, being canonized less than a year after his death. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII...

La Cheveche on Petite Choutte is an etching realized by Carl Guttenberg in 1771. The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière avec la description d...

Skeleton is an etching realized in 1771 by Louis Legrand (1723-1807). Signed in plate. The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière avec la descri...

La Manière de se Bien Preparer à La Mort is an etching by Romeyn de Hooghe from the Suite by Chertablon de la Vigne, La manière de se bien preparer à la mort. Antwerp: Gallet 1700. ...

La Manière de se Bien Preparer à La Mort is an etching by Romeyn de Hooghe from the Suite by Chertablon de la Vigne, La manière de se bien preparer à la mort. Antwerp: Gallet 1700. ...