15th Century and Earlier Figurative Prints

After Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto Copper plate engraving with hand coloring on cream laid paper with the Arms of France watermark (a crown in shield topped by a fleur-de-lys and the letters GR), 22 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches (576 x 400 mm), wide to full margins. Multiple vertical and horizontal creases from folding and rolling; none appear to be particularly hard, there is however some associated cockeling. While there is some minor mat tone visible around the perimeter of the sheet, the extensive handcoloring remains extremely fresh and saturated in the intended areas. There are edge tears at each the right and left sheet edge (outside of the image area) due to an improper effort to mount the sheet to a mat. Otherwise in very good condition with all issues being consistent with age. The print is wrongly titled "The South East Prospect of Westminster Bridge...

"Thirsty: the appearance of a town geisha in the Ansei era" - Woodblock on Paper From the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners" (Fuzoku sanjuniso) Lively woodblock of a...

WILLIAM HOGRATH (1767- 1764) THE BATHOS / Tail Piece 1764 (Paulson 1989: 216 I/I Paulson 1965/70: 216 I/I) Engraving Plate 12 7/8 x 13 3/8, sheet 17 ¾ x 18 ¾ Designed & Engrav’d by Wm Hogarth at left and Published according to Act of Parliam’t March 3, 1764 at right. Good condition on thick laid paper Small bit of tape on the left & right sheet edges small stan lower sheet edge all on recto. This Hogarth’s last print is fascinating as it is prophacy about death. Various institutions have interesting commentaries - to wit: Chicago Art Institute: Hogarth created The Bathos toward the end of his life. It is considered one of the bleakest artworks of the 18th century because it depicts the Apocalypse without an afterlife. The Angel of Death even collapses in exhaustion after having destroyed the world. In his hand is an execution decree and around him lies a mass of broken objects. Princeton: Hogarth’s last print, The Bathos,….. is filled with all manner of images denoting the end of life as we know it. Entry no. 216 in Ronald Paulson’s catalogue raisonne Hogarth’s Graphic Works, 3rd revised edition says “This print is the culmination of such pessimistic images . . . . [taking] his general composition, the configuration of objects, and some of the particular items, from Dürer’s engraving, Melancholia; but he also recalls Salvator Rosa’s Democritus in Meditation (which derives from Dürer’s print) with a scroll at the bottom of the etching: ‘Democritus the mocker of all things, confounded by the ending of All Things’ (Antal, p.168).” Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art): Hogarth intended this engraving to serve as the tailpiece to bound volumes of his collected engravings and, appropriately, it proved to be his last engraving. Father Time has died and his last will and testament has been witnessed by the three Fates. He is surrounded by a landscape of death, decay, and ruin. Hogarth aimed this print at dealers in “dark” Old Masters paintings who promoted the idea that ruins evoked sublime feelings in viewers—a sentiment, Hogarth wrote, that was reducing the world to ruin. British Caricature...

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...

Engraving with extensive handcoloring, on laid paper with a Fleur de Lys watermark, with margins. Plate 11 13/16 x 15 3/4 (300 x 400 mm); Sheet: 12 1/2 x 16 3/8 inches (317 x 415 mm)...

Etching printed in dark brownish black ink on cream laid paper, 6 x 8 7/8 inches (152 x 226 mm); full margins. Extremely minor and unobtrusive band of toning along the top sheet edg...

The Battle of Dan-no-ura in Yashima, Nagato Province in the First Year of the Bunji Era (1185) Tokyo c. 1830 Woodblock print (nishiki-e) with ink and hand-coloring in watercolor on handmade mulberry paper, 14 7/16 x 9 15/16 inches (367 x 252 mm), ōban tate-e, the full sheet. In good condition with some handling creases. Colors are fresh and extremely vibrant. The right panel from the triptych by Yoshitora depicting one of Japan's most storied naval battles. An impression of this work may be found in the permanent collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art. The great naval battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185 was the final climax in a long series of bitter wars between two powerful families in feudal Japan...

The Samurai Genta Kajiwara - Japanese Woodblock Diptych in Ink on Paper Boldly colored woodblock by Utagawa Yoshitora (Japanese, active c.1840-1880)...

In image of the Tokugawa family paying homage to Tosho-gu Shrine in Nikko. Tokyo: Matsuki Heikichi, 1896 Woodcut in ink with embossing and hand-coloring in watercolor on handmade m...

Rome: Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, 1625. Etching and engraving on cream laid paper, 8 3/8 x 11 1/4 inches (222 x 286 mm), full margins. In good condition with some light yellow discol...

Andreani, Andrea, after Andrea Mantegna The Triumph of Caesar: Plate IV of IX 1599. Chiaroscuro woodcut in colors printed from four blocks on laid paper in dark brown, grey, and thr...

Copper plate etching with drypoint on cream laid paper with a partial heraldic watermark, 11 x 8 inches (280 x 204 mm), full margins. Toning and some discoloration along the left mar...