Frederic Lord Leighton (After), The Last Watch Of Hero, Gravure

c. 1897

This charming late 19th-century lithograph was produced by Freudenthal & Co for clothing manufacturers, TJ Thomas & Ellis Jones, to showcase the latest fashion. There are 17 styles including the DB Gladstone (after the Prime Minister), Ulster, Demi Sac, Tourist Blouse, Frock Coat and D B Prince Alfred. There’s also a Riding Habit for the lady. TJ Thomas & Ellis Jones were based at 138 Queen Victoria Street...

This late 18th-century engraving from Thomas Bankes’ ‘New and Authentic System of Universal Geography’ depicts the evolution of ladies' fashion between 1590 and 1630. In this unusua...

This late 19th-century mixed-method engraving by George Sidney Hunt (1856-1917) after Edwin Long RA (1829-1891) is one in a series of three depicting the Old Testament story of Jephthah. Here, we see Jephthah’s daughter contemplating her fate during a two-month sojourn in the wilderness. The heart-rending story of Jephthah captured Victorian minds and inspired artist Edwin Long to produce three exhibition pieces, which are now held at the Russell Cotes Art Gallery & Museum. Prior to a fearsome battle with the Ammonites, Jephthah, a leader in Isreal, committed a vow to God that he’d make a sacrifice if his armies were triumphant. “whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering...

This exquisite early 20th-century etching by Swedish artist Axel Wallert (1890-1962) depicts a seated woman playing the mandolin. It’s brimming with style yet captured with sensitivi...

This late-19th-century etching by German draughtsman Albert Kruger (b. 1858) is after a painting by Max Liebermann (1847-1935). The rhythmical monotony of the spinners, organised like a rigid machine, echoes through the low barn. Youths, hunched by square windows, wind flax onto spindles. While women stand in clogged feet, working tirelessly with aching bones. Liebermann captured their daily grind with aplomb, avoiding sentiment in favour of laborious reality. Yet, amid this harsh environment, he celebrates their efforts. The composition conveys determination with its lines and strong verticals while the atmosphere is one of steel rather than tortuous circumstance. Liebermann was a realist yet he found light among the ordinary. Originally published in The Art Journal...

This charming mid-19th-century hand-coloured lithograph depicts the ‘Enterprise Steam Omnibus’, the most successful steam carriage of its period. In the early 19th century, long-distance travel was predominantly undertaken by horse-drawn carriages. Yet, every so often, the clitter-clatter of hooves was abruptly overshadowed by the whir of steam-powered technology. From around 1801, several plucky inventors began developing carriages which could propel themselves via steam. The majority were notoriously unreliable, often breaking down, too slow to be practical, and occasionally exploding. The first steam-powered carriage, invented by Richard Trevithick of Cornwall, made its debut in 1801. It was known as ‘The Puffing Devil’ or ‘Captain Dick’s Puffer’ and said to cause quite a fright when trundling towards you. But this, like several others, couldn’t sustain the rigours of regular long distance trips, which were required to support the cost of running them. Walter Hancock’s (1799-1852) carriages were different. They became the first to run regularly - initially from Stratford and London via the ‘Infant’, a ten-seater bus, and in 1833, between London Wall and Paddington via ‘The Enterprise’, which we see here. Hancock’s machines were revolutionary due to his patented steam boiler (which had less risk of exploding). The Enterprise also had a pioneering suspended engine along with several other clever additions. Driving it was a tricky affair with three operators required - one to steer and control the speed, a second to monitor the boiler’s water level, and a third to maintain the fire. It’s unclear how the three communicated over the omnipresent din. In total, Hancock’s machines carried 12,761 passengers across 4,200 miles, an incredible achievement given the constraints of the day and the condition of the roads. The Enterprise was lauded in Europe and the US, with this particular image featuring in the New York press. The lithograph is based upon an earlier engraving...

London: Gebbie & Husson Co., 1879 Héliogravure and engraving on cream wove paper, 10 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches (258 x 310 mm), full margins. In good condition with some very minor margina...

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...

Lithograph in colors with engraving on buff wove paper. Each of the two images measures 10 3/4 x 6 5/8 inches (271 x 167 mm), with the sheet measuring 14 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches (360 x 5...

Aquatint with hand coloring in oil color on smooth wove paper, 10 1/2 x 14 5/8 inches (266 × 370 mm), full margins. Moderate mat tone, scattered spots of light brown discoloration in...

Aquatint with hand coloring in oil color on smooth wove paper, 10 5/8 x 7 3/8 inches (270 x 187 mm), full margins. Laid down to a support, as issued. Moderate toning and surface soil...

Pugin, Augustus Charles & Rowlandson, Thomas (after). College of Physicians, from Ackermann's "Microcosm of London." London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1808. Hand-colored lithograph, 9 1/4 ...