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Basilius Besler
Malva hortensis flore... (Hollyhock, Mallow)
1613

Name: Malva hortensis flore... (Hollyhock, Mallow)
Brand: Basilius Besler
Rating: 5 (11 reviews)

$8,750List Price

About the Item

This piece would pair well with Basil Besler's "Malva Rose" which is also listed. BASIL BESLER (1561 – 1629). Hortus Eystettensis. Konrad Bauer. Altdorf, 1613, 1640, 1713 – 50. Copper plate engravings with modern hand-color 374 plates. 21 ¼” to 21 ½” x 16” to 18”. Hortus Eystettensis is without doubt one of the greatest flower books ever produced in any country. The first great florilegium, it is a landmark work in size and scope documenting pre-Linnaean botanical classification. The splendid stylization and aesthetics make it one of the most powerful botanical works ever produced. Basil Besler, an apothecary of Nuremberg and botanist who managed the garden of Bishop Johann Conrad in Eichstatt, Germany, used it as an encyclopedic resource as the basis for Hortus Eystettensis, observing and depicting over a thousand flowers, representing 667 species. The Bishop's remarkable garden was one of the most extensive in Europe, containing a huge variety of European shrubs and flowering plants, as well as exotic specimens from Asia and the Americas. He endeavored to collect the new and exotic specimens arriving from far away lands. With the Bishop's patronage, Besler worked both as artist and publisher, directing a team of ten artists and engravers in creating 374 plates over a period of 16 years. Horticultural rather than botanical, it is the earliest pictorial record of flowers in a single garden. Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring each have their own sections. An unparalleled achievement! As the first large folio botanical, the plates depict over 1000 flowers, many of them exotics appearing for the first time. It would be decades before living examples of certain species were to be seen again. The Bishops’ Eden fell into disrepair after his death and with the outbreak of the Thrity Years War suffered complete neglect. By 1633 the magnificent gardens had ceased to exist. But they would not be forgotten. Besler’s original drawings (most of which are housed in the University Library, Erlangen) took sixteen years to complete. Besler supervised a team of painters and engravers including Domenicus & Raphael Custos, Wolfgang Kilian (stepson of Domenicus), Levin & Friedrich von Huisen, Peter Ilelburch, Johann Leopold, Servaes Raeven, Heinrich Ulrich Heronimus Lederer, et al. This unparalleled group worked between 1608 and 1612 when the last plates went to the printer. The Bishop died on the 2nd of November 1612. Up to that time Besler had received 7500 gold coins in payment. Printed in 1613, only three hundred copies were issued. However, the extensive information and generous depictions would be republished for over a century. For many years it was believed the copper plates on which they were engraved survived until 1817, when they were melted down by the Royal Mint in Munich. However, in 1998, during a reorganization of storage in Vienna’s Albertina Graphic Collection, 329 of the original plates were found. The whereabouts of the remainder remains a mystery. One hundred and fifty years before Linnaeus created his thorough system of classification, Besler's great florilegium represented an impressive early attempt to classify plants for the benefit of botanists, doctors and apothecaries. Each plant is given a distinct and often descriptive Latin title, and related species are grouped together on the same plate, or over a series of plates. Almost all specimens are shown complete and accurately colored including delineations of their root systems. There were under one dozen copies colored at the time of publication probably for royal or wealthy patrons. Several happily survive in museums and libraries. Today we use them as a basis for coloring. While Besler's work is obviously motivated by a scientific impulse to document and describe a remarkable collection of species, the beautiful presentation and dramatic stylization of the illustrations also convey a sense of the visual grandeur of the Bishop's great garden. By 1633 the famous garden had become a vegetable plot. Ultimately, this renowned botanical achievement would be plowed under and lost for all time. All the more reason to revere Besler's dramatic endeavor. Each specimen is placed on the page with an artist's understanding of formal and spatial relations. Most notable, the stylized depiction of foliage and root systems betrays a lively baroque sensibility, as the plants seem to dance across the page. The Besler "Florilegium" will hold forever in time a magnificent era of horticulture. Reference: Hortus Eystettensis: The Bishop’s Garden & Besler’s Magnificent Book. Abrams. NY, 1994. The Besler Florilegium: Plants of the Four Seasons. Abrams. NY, 1987.

Creator:
Basilius Besler (1561 - 1629, German)
Creation Year:
1613
Dimensions:
Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 26.6 in (67.57 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)
Medium:
Archival Paper,Archival Tape,Gesso,Handmade Paper,Laid Paper,Plexiglass,Rag Paper,Silk,Watercolor
Movement & Style:
Academic
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Condition:
Clean, crisp image. Full margins. Beautifully hand-colored image. Archival framing.
Gallery Location:
Florham Park, NJ
Reference Number:
Seller: 2.11.151stDibs: LU652248832

2010s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Archival Tape, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Color, Archival Pigment

Dionisios Fragias
Color-Blast Bouquet, 2021

Price Upon Request

H 34.8 in W 24 in D 2 in

“Returning Home”

By Hermanus Jan Hendrik Rijkelijkhuysen

Located in Southampton, NY

Original etching on Ingres laid paper (watermarked, see last photograph) attributed to the hand of the well known Dutch artist, Hermanus Jan Hendrik Rijkelijkhuysen. No visible signature. Sheet size 9.25 by 12 inches. Sight size 7 by 9 inches. Under glass. Circa 1875. Condition is excellent. Professionally matted and framed in a walnut colored frame with gold leaf edge. Overall framed measurements are 12.75 by 14.5 inches. Gallery label verso. Provenance: A Sarasota, Florida collector. Biography: Hermanus Jan Hendrik Rijkelijkhuysen (1813-1883) was a landscape painter and etcher. Rijkelijkhuysen spent most of his life working in the vicinity of his birthplace Utrecht. Inspired by the polders on the one hand and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug on the other, he mainly painted and etched water...

Category

1870s Academic Landscape Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

“Returning Home”, Circa 1875

$520 Sale Price

20% Off

H 7 in W 9 in D 0.75 in

“Les Revers de la Fortune”

Located in Southampton, NY

Original stipple engraving with colors titled “Les Revers de la Fortune” (Reversal of Fortune) by the well known French engraver, Louis Marin Bonnet...

Category

1780s Academic Interior Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving

Louis Marin Bonnet
“Les Revers de la Fortune”, Circa 1785

$760 Sale Price

20% Off

H 11.75 in W 8.5 in D 1 in

“Innocent Captivation Amusement Pastorale”

By Anthony Cardon

Located in Southampton, NY

Original stipple engraving on a verge type of hand laid paper. The overall size of the engraving is 15.75 inches by 12.75 inches The image size of the engraving is 14 inches by 12 i...

Category

Early 1800s Academic Figurative Prints

Materials

Engraving, Laid Paper

Anthony Cardon
“Innocent Captivation Amusement Pastorale”, 1801

$950 Sale Price

36% Off

H 15.75 in W 12.75 in D 1 in

"The Temptation of Saint Anthony " Etching, Signed

By Fernand Cormon

Located in Milwaukee, WI

"The Temptation of Saint Anthony" is an original etching by Fernand Cormon. This piece has the artist's stamp. The piece is signed in pencil by the artis...

Category

1890s Academic Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching, Paper, Ink, Laid Paper

Fernand Cormon
"The Temptation of Saint Anthony " Etching, Signed, circa 1890

$26,100

H 19 in W 22 in

Eagle /// Antique Ornithology Bird Saverio Manetti Italian Watercolor Engraving

By Saverio Manetti

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Saverio Manetti (Italian, 1723-1785) Title: "Eagle" (Plate V - 5) Portfolio: Storia Naturale Degli Uccelli (The Natural History of Birds) Year: 1767-1776 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Engraving on watermarked laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: Unknown Publisher: heirs of Francesco Mouck (Vols. I-III), Gaetano Cambiagi (Vol. IV), Giuseppe Vanni (Vol. V), Florence, Italy Reference: Ayer/Zimmer page 241; Fine Bird Books page 120; McGill/Wood, page 450; Nissen IVB No. 588 Sheet size: 16.75" x 14.5" Platemark size: 13.63" x 10.88" Condition: Some minor surface marks mainly in margins. In excellent condition with strong colors Rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Haarlem, Netherlands. Engraved and hand-colored by Italian artists Lorenzo Lorenzi (Active: 1750-1780) and Violante Vanni (1732-1776). Latin and Italian texts by Saverio Manetti. Comes from Manetti's monumental five volume "Storia Naturale Degli Uccelli (The Natural History of Birds)", (1767-1776), which consists of 600 hand-colored engravings. Unidentified watermark in very center of sheet. Comes with its accompanying information sheet. Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 60 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Manetti's extraordinary "Storia Naturale Degli Uccelli (The Natural History of Birds)", 1767-1776 was commissioned by Maria Luisa, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. It is a massive 5 book volume set...

Category

1770s Old Masters Animal Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Intaglio

Saverio Manetti
Eagle /// Antique Ornithology Bird Saverio Manetti Italian Watercolor Engraving, 1767-1776

$750

H 16.75 in W 14.5 in

A Hong Kong Canal Boat

By John Taylor Arms

Located in Middletown, NY

Aquatint with hand coloring in watercolor on watermarked, laid Arches paper, 8 1/16 x 5 9/16 inches (206 x 142 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 22/40 in pencil,...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Watercolor, Aquatint

John Taylor Arms
A Hong Kong Canal Boat, 1919

$2,000

H 8.12 in W 5.6 in

View of Fountain Court, Middle Temple, City of London

Located in Middletown, NY

An 18th century view of the first permanent water fountain in London. London: J.Boydell, 1753. Engraving with hand coloring in watercolor on white laid paper, laid down to a modern...

Category

Mid-18th Century English School Figurative Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Engraving

Henry Fletcher
View of Fountain Court, Middle Temple, City of London, 1753

$250

H 11.97 in W 17.72 in

Union - Whom --- Has Join'd, Let No Man put Asunder!

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching and engraving with hand coloring in watercolor on cream laid paper. 6 3/4 X 9 5/8 inches (170 x 244 mm), margins trimmed, image intact. Rubbing in the lower left image area obscuring the publishing information (which reads Published by Mm. Darchery, St. James Street March 11, 1783), scattered light foxing, corner loss, top left corner, well outside of image area. "SMP" collector's stamp in red ink on the verso (not in Lugt), and the name "Renier" and the initials "AR" in black ink on the verso. Colors are extremely fresh. Impressions of this work may be found in the permanent collection of the British Museum, and the Yale Center for British Art. Ex-Collection of Anne & Ferdinand Gabriel (F.G.) Renier, reknowned for their inspriational collection of children's books and works on paper, now housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum. _____ The devil officiates at the wedding of Tory Lord North, and Charles James Fox, the Whig statesman whose career spanned almost four decades in Parliament. The satirical scene is the signing of the Fox-North coalition, which was a short-lived partnership the two formed while combining forces in the House of Commons to oust then Prime Minister William Petty, Earl of Shelburne. Fox had fallen out of favor with the Irish born Shelburne, also a Whig, whose ministry remained in power just long enough to see the American War of Independence...

Category

Late 18th Century English School Figurative Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Etching

Edward Topham
Union - Whom --- Has Join'd, Let No Man put Asunder!, 1783

$1,200

H 5.63 in W 6.75 in

Hand-coloured Print of weeping mythical sculpture angels in Walnut Frame

Located in London, GB

Hand-coloured tableau of a weeping spirit and her guardians, immobilised in marble. A disjointed narrative looking at recovery and protection, the angels shield the spirit with tender embraces and cry for her when alone. Taken from The Sialia Marbles, a series of portraits containing ephemeral human sculptures taken between 2016-19. Together these works act as tales contained in a fictional sculpture hall, in direct reaction to Andre Malraux’s 1947 Le Musee Imaginaire (Museum Without Walls). During the beginning of the 'Museum Age' in the 18th century , writer Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe discussed mythical...

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