18th Century Art

Original engraving by Francesco Piranesi from "Raccolta di Statue Antiche." Rome, 1780-1792.

Le Petite Phoque is an etching realized in 1771 by Juste Chevillet (1729–1802) Signed in plate. The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière avec ...

Anatomy Studies Muscles is an etching realized by Jean Francois Poletnich in 1755. Signed in the plate. Good conditions with foxing. The artwork is depicted through confident stro...

Anatomy Studies is an etching realized by Nicholas Cochin in 1755. Good conditions with slight foxing. Signed in the plate. The artwork is depicted through confident strokes. The...

Pair of lithographs of The Temple of Portunus in Rome (Italian: Tempio di Portuno) facade and floor plan by Antoine Desgodetz (French, 1653-1728). These pag...

Chandelier designs. A pair of architectural engravings. These engravings are framed in white gold covered french frames. From the publication published in Milan in 1782. "Different o...

Ceiling designs. A set of three architectural engravings. These engravings are framed in white gold covered french frames. From the publication publishe...

French school of the 18th century Three pencils (pencil, red chalk, white chalk) on paper 27 x 18 cm (45 x 34 cm with frame) Inscription at bottom “Saint-Aubin de l’Académie de musique” Dated "1785" Augustin d'Herbez known as "Saint-Aubin" was a tenor and member of the Royal Academy of Music...

This beautiful hand-colored copper-plate engraving entitled "The West Prospect of Mordon Colledge (Old English Spelling) Black Heath" was published in the 'The Universal Magazine...

Landscape with figures and herd is an original oil on canvas realized in the 18th Century by a School Master of Central Italian School. Original oil painting on Canvas. The painti...

Buffalo Anatomy  is an artwork realized  by  Buvée l'Américain in 1771.   Etching B./W. print  on ivory paper. Signed on  plate on the lower left margin. The work is glued on cardb...

This is an original 18th century hand-colored map entitled "A New & Accurate Map of China, Drawn from Surveys made by the Jesuit Missionaries, by order of the Emperor. The whole bein...

Anatomy Studies is an etching realized by Nicholas Cochin in 1755. Good conditions with foxing and folding. Signed in the plate. The artwork is depicted through confident strokes....

Study for a Male figure with Turbant. Interesting Oil painting characterized by a new Manneristic elegance and an elaborate movement. These elements collocate the composition in the...

Deer Horns  is an artwork realized  by  Buvée l'Américain in 1771.   Etching B./W. print  on ivory paper. Signed on  plate on the lower left margin. The work is glued on cardboard....

This is an 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraved map entitled "Europa Regnorum Provinciarum Regionum" created by the German cartographer Tobias Conrad Lotter. It was publish...

This richly engraved map of Rome and its environs entitled "Urbis Cum Vicis Seu Pagis Adiacentibus Dissertationi III De Aq et Aqueaed Veteris Promae Praemissa Authore Raph Fabretto G...

This is a scarce richly hand colored copper plate engraved map of Africa entitled "Guinea Propria, nec non Nigritiae vel Terrae Nigrorum Maxima Pars" by Johann Baptist Homann (1664-1...

Capital letter C for the Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed, original etching from the end of the 18th century, made by Various Old Masters. In very good condition, except for some ...

Monastero e Chiesa di S.Susanna delle Monache Cisterciensi is an original etching of the Late 18th century realized by Giuseppe Vasi. Signed and titled on plate lower margin. Good...

This is a hand-colored engraving of male and female woodpeckers entitled "1. Le Petit Pie varie, 2. Sa Femelle" by Francois Nicolas Martinet, plate 598 from 'Histoire Naturelle des O...

Julius Cesar is an original etching artwork on the cardboard, realized by an Anonymous artist in 1700 ca. In very good conditions. The artwork represents the portrait of Julius Ces...

Ancient Roman Bust, original etching from the end of the 18th century, made by Various Old Masters. Good condition. Units of measurements typica...

Fontana dell'Acqua Felice is an original black and white etching of the Late 18th century realized by Giuseppe Vasi. The beautiful etching represents a glimpse of Rome. Signed and...

Collections: Sir Thomas Lawrence, who acquired the contents of Fuseli’s studio; Susan, Countess of Guilford, née Coutts (1771-1837), acquired from the Lawrence estate; Susan, Baroness North (1797-1884), daughter of the above; Mrs A. M. Jaffé, acquired in France, c. 1950 to 2016. Black chalks, on buff-coloured paper Stamped verso: ‘Baroness Norths Collection / of Drawings by H Fuseli Esq.’ Framed dimensions: 26.38 x 20.63 inches This boldly drawn sheet depicting a seated figure was made by Fuseli at an important and highly productive moment in his career. The monumental drawing is closely related to another sheet by Fuseli in the British Museum which Schiff published as subject unknown. Both drawings were made when Fuseli was designing his most important sequence of historical works, including scenes from Shakespeare and Milton, The Nightmare and The Death of Dido which was exhibited at the Royal Academy to great critical acclaim in 1781. The present drawing does not relate directly to any of Fuseli’s finished historical paintings of the period, but evidently the image of a slightly menacing, seated and covered old woman was precisely the sort of motif he was playing with. It is notable that the same figure reappears later in Fuseli’s work as the witch from Ben Jonson’s Witch’s Song which Fuseli produced as both a painting and engraving in 1812. Fuseli returned to London in 1779 from a highly creative and productive period in Rome and established himself as one of the leading history painters of the period. Fuseli re-established contact with his old mentor Sir Joshua Reynolds, becoming a regular guest at his dinner table and visitor to his studio. The earliest and most striking manifestation of this strategy was Fuseli's Death of Dido, exhibited in 1781 at the Royal Academy. Executed on the same scale as Reynolds's version (Royal Collection), Fuseli's vertically oriented picture was hung directly opposite Reynolds's with its horizontal orientation, inevitably inviting comparison between the two works and garnering Fuseli much publicity and favourable reviews in the newspapers. The present, previously unpublished sheet, relates closely to a drawing now in the British Museum. That sheet shows the same seated old woman, drawn on a smaller scale and more schematic in design, seated next to an anatomical drawing of a man. The pose of this figure is related to the pose of Dido in his Death of Dido; the foreshortened torso, arrangement of head, oblique view of Dido’s features and arms all suggest that the study can be viewed as an initial thought for the composition. Fuseli may have initially thought of including the figure of the hunched and covered old woman. Drawn on identical paper to the British Museum sheet, our study is an enlarged depiction of the same figure, more elaborately delineated and developed. The presence of a chain to the right of the figure, suggests that the iconography was related in some way to a scene of imprisonment. Fuseli had first explored the motif of the hooded old woman in an early Roman drawing, 'The Venus Seller'. The idea of a grotesque old woman, hooded and with angular nose and projecting chin seen in profile was most spectacularly used by Fuseli in his sequence of paintings depicting The Three Witches from Macbeth. Fuseli seems to have kept the present sheet and may have returned to it when preparing a painting of The Witch and the Mandrake from Ben Jonson’s Witch’s Song from his Masque of Queens in 1812. Here the same seated figure looks out from under her hood and picks a mandrake by moonlight. Jonson’s drama had been performed at the court of James I in 1609, inspired the subject. To throw the nobility of the queens into relief, the poet added a coven of witches, one of whom declares: ‘I last night lay all alone, On the ground, to hear the mandrake groan; And plucked him up, though he grew full low, And, as I had done, the cock did crow.’ The figure was reversed in the associated etching which was published in 1812. It seems likely that the present drawing remained as part of Fuseli’s working archive of figure studies. The present drawing was presumably purchased with the bulk of Fuseli’s drawings after the artist’s death by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Lawrence’s large group of Fuseli drawings were then acquired by Susan, Countess of Guildford (1771-1837). Lady Guildford was the eldest daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts (1735-1822), who himself had supported Fuseli’s journey to Rome in the 1770s and had remained one of the artist’s key...

Fetus - Dog is an artwork realized  by Jacques de Seve in 1771.   Etching B./W. print  on ivory paper. Signed on  plate on the lower left margin. The work is glued on cardboard. To...

French School 18th Century, Le Rire, Laughter as a form of expression, Titled on the lower right "Le rire N°12" Black chalk on paper 43 x 29 cm In quite good condition, stains vsibl...

Beautiful portrait of Elizabeth Duchess of Hamilton, in very good conditions. Prov. Ederheimer Gallery N.Y. Private Collection, Italy

Painting done in oil on canvas. The figure of Magdalene is depicted here, in keeping with tradition, with long red hair; with a gesture of sorrowful dedication she fixes her gaze on ...

Ancient Roman Scene from the series "Antiquities of Herculaneum", is an etching on paper realized by Various Authors in the 18th Century. Monogrammed on t...

Anonymous Queen's College and the High, Oxford Watercolour 12 x 16 cm Initialled to bottom left This highly-detailed watercolour depicts everyday life in front of Queen's College...

Female figure with child and dog is a sublime original drawing (red chalk drawing on laid paper) by an exponent of the French School of the XVIII century...

The Sleepy Congregation is an artwok realized in 1736, by the French Artist Simon François Ravenet, after a print by William Hogarth. Etching on paper. Monogrammed in plate on  the ...

A superb 18th century engraved portrait of George Savile, Marquis of Halifax, Plate 82 in "The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain", written by...

Convento di S.Pietro in Montorio is an original etching of the Late 18th century realized by Giuseppe Vasi. Signed and titled on plate lower margin. Good conditions. Giuseppe Vas...

Ancient Roman Statues of Sheep, from the series "Antiquities of Herculaneum", is an original etching on paper realized by Anonymous Artist in the 18th century. Monogrammed on the pl...

Ancient Roman Fresco from the series "Antiquities of Herculaneum", is an original etching on paper realized by Nicola Fiorillo in the 18th Century. Signed on the plate. Good ...

Le Gazelle is an etching realized by P.F. Tardieu in 1771. It belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière avec la description du Cabinet du Roi". Artist's si...

Black and white etching on wire rod paper, representing the Greek myth of Alcyone. Wonderful plate with very fresh impression and a beautiful use of chiaroscuro, from the volume “Le...

Work on canvas Golden wooden frame 64 x 82.5 x 7 cm

Liberation of Angels from "Antiquities of Herculaneum" is an etching on paper realized by Carlo Nolli in the 18th Century. Signed on the plate. Good conditions with folding, a cut,...

Portrait of Alexander Monro is an original etching realized by P. Thomson in 1793. Good condition, mounted on a white cardboard passpartout ( 49x34 cm). The portrait represent Alex...

Ancient Roman Still Life, from the series "Antiquities of Herculaneum", is an original etching on paper realized by Filippo De Grado in the 18th century. Signed on the plate. Good ...

Magnificent large plate illustrating the Vatican Museum at the end of the eighteenth century by Vincenzo Feoli (1750 - 1831) after Miccinelli and Costa. The Pio-Clementino museum, n...

James Basire & Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie Monument of King Edward IV in St George's Chapel at Windsor Engraving 50 x 32 cm This engraving was originally published by the Societ...

An original hand colored engraving by Johannes 'Jan' Kip (1653-1722) of Haughton in the County of Nottinghamshire, one of the seats of Prince John Duke of ...

A delightful 1767 sampler depicting the alphabet and floral motif. Signed and dated. Presented in a dark wooden frame. On cotton.

Cupid In Three Frames from "Antiquities of Herculaneum" is an etching on paper realized by Carlo Nolli in the 18th Century. Signed on the plate. Good conditions. The etching belon...

The Skeleton is an etching realized in 1771 by Louis Legrand (1723-1807). Titled and Signed on the plate. The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particul...

Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - The Rat Poison Peddler, Year: Of Original 1632, Medium: Etching, Image Size: 5.5 x 5 inches, Size: 13 x 11 in. (33....

James Basire & Robert Blemmel Schnebbelie The Holy Sepulchre at Northwold in the county of Norfolk Engraving 45 x 60 cm This engraving was originally published by the Society of ...

James Basire & Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie The Chancel of Chatham Church, Kent Engraving 48 x 33 cm This engraving was originally published by the Society of Antiquaries of Londo...

1870’s Antique American Gilt Frame Antique Painting Frame Frame Size: Width: 21″ X Height: 25″ Thickness: 5.65″ Picture Size: Width: 10.25...

Chiesa Di S. Giorgio is an original black and white etching of the Late 18th century realized by Giuseppe Vasi. The beautiful etching represents a glimpse of Rome. Signed and title...

This hand-colored copper-plate map of Sweden and adjacent portions of Scandinavia entitled "Regni Sueciae in Omnes suas Subjacentes Provincias accurate divisi Tabula Generalis" was c...

This is an original 18th Century copper plate engraved portrait of Captain James Cook as a young man. It was engraved by J. Basire after a painting by William Hodges, published in London by W. Strahan and T. Cadell in the Strand in 1777 as the frontispiece to the official journal publication of Cook's 2nd voyage of discovery, "A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World. Performed in His Majesty's ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775". The journal was written by James Cook, Commander of the Resolution, which was the ship used for the voyage and William Hodges, who was the artist on board the ship. This famous image has been used in many articles and tributes to Captain Cook, including a Norfolk Island stamp celebrating his many accomplishments. This engraved head-and-shoulders portrait of Captain Cook is enclosed in an oval with the appearance of a stone border. Captain Cook is dressed in his naval dress uniform, with a topcoat over a lace shirt. The engraving is printed on watermarked laid, chain-linked paper. The sheet measures 11.5" high x 9" wide. There is some spotting, most prominently in the margins. The print is otherwise in excellent condition. Captain James Cook (1728-1779) was an English explorer, navigator, surveyor and cartographer, who dramatically changed what was known about the world through his three voyages of discovery in the 1770's. Cook's achievements are too numerous to include here, but for example, Cook charted much of the Pacific Ocean and discovered many island groups, including the Hawaiian islands, which he named the Sandwich Islands, in honor of the head of the British Admiralty and a patron of Cook's. Cook was the first European to explore the eastern coast of Australia, and he was the first to map the New Zealand coastline. He sailed farther south than any other explorer before him, disproving the belief that a huge land mass occupied the South Pole. He also explored the northwest coast of North America, including present day Alaska and adjacent portions of Russia. He proved that the Northwest Passage did not exist. Cook was an exceptional seaman, navigator and leader of men, which contributed to the success of his explorations, but also saved his ship and crew on many occasions when faced with challenges, such as storms in previously unexplored waters, like occurred in the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia. He is also the first to require his crew to eat citrus fruit which markedly reduced the incidence of survey, which had led to large scale illness and death during earlier ocean voyages. As outstanding as Cook's skills were, they are even more impressive since they were self-taught. Having grown up the son of a farmhand in Northern England he had only four years of formal schooling. He taught himself astronomy, mathematics and other disciplines which were helpful when he continued his education, first in the merchant marine and then in the British Navy. Cook's adventurous career came to a sudden and unfortunate end in 1779, when he was killed in a confrontation with Hawaiian natives...

Sepolcro Regio, o Consolare , inciso nella rupe del Monte Albano (Royal or Consular Tomb in the Alban Hills) is an original etching realized by Giovan Battista Piranesi in 1764. Ed...

Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - Les Musiciens Ambulants (B119), Year: 1878 (of original 1635), Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 5.5 x 4.75 in. (13.97 x...

James Basire & Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie Wainflete School, Lincolnshire Engraving 50 x 32 cm This engraving was originally published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, an...

James Basire, after James Johnson and John Carter The Chancel of Chatham Church, Kent Engraving 50 x 32 cm This engraving was originally published by the Society of Antiquaries of...