In Living Colour
To show just how colourful antique prints can be, we've put together a selection which have been printed in colour.
We recently showed examples of John Baptist Jackson's work in an earlier post, however he is included here again as his prints of the early 18th century, with different blocks used for printing different colours 'may be regarded as the first genuine ones printed in colours that were ever produced for public circulation by an English artist' (Burch):
.JPG)
The Death of St. Peter Martyr
John Baptist Jackson after Titian
£420
Different colour plates were used for a series of large engravings of the Westminster Tapestries showing the Spanish Armada. We have three of the series, engraved by Robert Pine, which contrast the scene (printed in dark blue ink) with the decorative surround (printed from a separate plate in black):
[The Spanish Armada Tapestries - The Spanish anchored at Calais.] VIII.
C. Lempriere delin. J. Pine Sculp.
Publish'd by John Pine, June 24 1739... [1753.]
Engraving printed from two plates, the scene printed in blue, the frame in black. Outer plate mark 380 x 610 (15 x 24"). Framed. Unexamined out of frame.
[Ref: 28305]
One of the most important names in the history of colour printing is that of Jacques Gautier Dagoty, who after the death of the earlier colour printer James Christopher Le Blon, obtained a thirty year 'Privilege' in 1741 for printing in this way in France. Dagoty's sons helped their father in preparing his plates and books, and also published their own works. This mezzotint is by one of those sons, Louis Charles Gautier-Dagoty:
L'Enfant Prodigue. Gravé d’aprés le Tableau Original de Guercino D’Acento Dedié à Sa Majesté le Roi de Sardaigne Tiré de ses Galeries, par son tres humble et tres soumis Serviteur, Louis d’Agoty.
[n.d. c.1780.]
Mezzotint with large margins, printed in colours off two plates, rare, strengthening to verso. Printed area 405 x 385mm (16 x 15¼"). Some creasing and paper toning.
[Ref: 28644] £360
Of all printing processes available in the 18th century, mezzotint most closely approximated the appearance of oil paintings, and when printed in colour this enabled prints to get even closer to the appearance of paintings, as in this mezzotint after a famous Rembrandt:
Rembrandt's Peasant Girl.From the Original Picture in the Collection of the late Noel Desenfans Esq.
Rembrandt Pinxt. W. Say Sculpt.
London, Published Jany. 27. 1814, by T Macdonald 39 Fleet Street.
Mezzotint printed in colour 348 x 470mm 15 x 18½inches. Trimmed inside plate in elaborate gilt frame with with an F. B. Daniell label on reverse, the frame has some damage on lower moulding. Unexamined out of frame
The painting now hangs in the Dulwich Picture Gallery with the title "Girl at a Window".
[Ref: 11765] £850
Stipple engraving was another popular process used in the late 18th century, predominantly for decorative subjects, such as a triptych by Bartolozzi after the Rev. Peters which represented 'the apotheosis of religious sentiment' (Clayton):
The Spirit of a Child arriv'd in the Presence of the Almighty. And the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes. To Her Grace Mary Isabella...
Painted by Rev.d W.m Peters of Exeter College Oxford & R.A. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi.
London Pub. July 7. 1801 by J. & J. Boydell, Shakespeare Gallery Pall Mall & No.90 Cheapside.
Hand-coloured stipple and etching. 585 x 451mm. 23 x 17¾". Repaired tear into top edge.
[Ref: 27565] £220
or the same engaver's skilful employment to replicate Holbein's Portraits of Personages at the Court of Henry VIII. 'The originals were drawn in outline with coloured chalks, hence the stipple reproductions were rather of the earlier French than of the later English type. The colouring was simple, a flesh pink for the face and hands and a brown for the hair or head-dress, in representing which line engraving was in part employed' (Burch):
Gawin Carow Knight. In His Majesty's Collection.
From the Original Drawing by Hans Holbein. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi R.A. Historical Engraver to his Majesty.
Published as the Act directs June 7. 1796 by I. Chamberlaine Brompton Row Knightsbridge.
Coloured stipple and etching on roseate paper, 325 x 275mm. 12¾ x 10¾". Slightly soiled.
From the collection of Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth.
[Ref: 9642] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)
There has long been an implicit tension between two ways of printing in colour- printing from one multi-coloured plate or a number of plates inked in different colours, and this continued in the nineteenth century, with George Baxter demonstrating a continuation of the latter trend 'Of all the workers who printed in colours from wood blocks, none have achieved so lasting a fame as George Baxter [...] Baxter was a first-rate draughtsman, an excellent colourist, and withal a painstaking printer, who patented his distinctive method of printing from separate coloured blocks for each colour used' (Burch):
[The Siege Of Sebastopol]
George Baxter
1855.
Baxter method Printed in colour, Engraving. 103 x 152mm. 4 x 6". Original board lost laid on backing.
Seige of Sevastopol (1854-1855) was a major battle during the Crimean War.
Victoria University: Baxter Starr Collection: No.199.
[Ref: 16402] £65.00 (£78.00 incl.VAT)
Baxter's method of printing from multiple blocks to create intricate, postcard-sized compositions, was the apotheosis of a form of mechanical ingenuity, compressing earlier innovations in multiple-plate printing into tiny masterpieces.
But Baxter's baroque jigsaws were still rivalled by single plate colour-printing by the likes of the Paris-based Goupil firm, who produced colour photogravures as early as the 1870s, the plate being individually inked by hand for each impression, from a standard coloured copy which the inker had beside him for reference. 'Production is naturally slow, from six to eighteen copies a day, varying with the size of the picture and the colours used' (Burch). This print was published by Goupil in 1902:
A Gounod.
Peint par G.Dubufe. Photogravure Goupil & C.ie.
Imprimé & Publié le 1.er Avril 1902 par Goupil et C.ie Editeurs, Imprimeurs, Manzi, Joyant & C.ie Editeurs, Imprimeurs, Successeurs _ Paris, Londres. New-York Published by Manzi, Joyant & Co.
Colour photogravure, signed by Debufe. 540 x 715mm, 21¼ x 28". A few spots.
[Ref: 10054] £520
Bibliography:
R.M. Burch, Colour Printing and Colour Printers
T. Clayton, The English Print 1688-1802
Richard T. Godfrey, Printmaking in Britain
We recently showed examples of John Baptist Jackson's work in an earlier post, however he is included here again as his prints of the early 18th century, with different blocks used for printing different colours 'may be regarded as the first genuine ones printed in colours that were ever produced for public circulation by an English artist' (Burch):
.JPG)
John Baptist Jackson after Titian
£420
Different colour plates were used for a series of large engravings of the Westminster Tapestries showing the Spanish Armada. We have three of the series, engraved by Robert Pine, which contrast the scene (printed in dark blue ink) with the decorative surround (printed from a separate plate in black):
C. Lempriere delin. J. Pine Sculp.
Publish'd by John Pine, June 24 1739... [1753.]
Engraving printed from two plates, the scene printed in blue, the frame in black. Outer plate mark 380 x 610 (15 x 24"). Framed. Unexamined out of frame.
[Ref: 28305]
One of the most important names in the history of colour printing is that of Jacques Gautier Dagoty, who after the death of the earlier colour printer James Christopher Le Blon, obtained a thirty year 'Privilege' in 1741 for printing in this way in France. Dagoty's sons helped their father in preparing his plates and books, and also published their own works. This mezzotint is by one of those sons, Louis Charles Gautier-Dagoty:
[n.d. c.1780.]
Mezzotint with large margins, printed in colours off two plates, rare, strengthening to verso. Printed area 405 x 385mm (16 x 15¼"). Some creasing and paper toning.
[Ref: 28644] £360
Of all printing processes available in the 18th century, mezzotint most closely approximated the appearance of oil paintings, and when printed in colour this enabled prints to get even closer to the appearance of paintings, as in this mezzotint after a famous Rembrandt:
Rembrandt Pinxt. W. Say Sculpt.
London, Published Jany. 27. 1814, by T Macdonald 39 Fleet Street.
Mezzotint printed in colour 348 x 470mm 15 x 18½inches. Trimmed inside plate in elaborate gilt frame with with an F. B. Daniell label on reverse, the frame has some damage on lower moulding. Unexamined out of frame
The painting now hangs in the Dulwich Picture Gallery with the title "Girl at a Window".
[Ref: 11765] £850
Stipple engraving was another popular process used in the late 18th century, predominantly for decorative subjects, such as a triptych by Bartolozzi after the Rev. Peters which represented 'the apotheosis of religious sentiment' (Clayton):
Painted by Rev.d W.m Peters of Exeter College Oxford & R.A. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi.
London Pub. July 7. 1801 by J. & J. Boydell, Shakespeare Gallery Pall Mall & No.90 Cheapside.
Hand-coloured stipple and etching. 585 x 451mm. 23 x 17¾". Repaired tear into top edge.
[Ref: 27565] £220
or the same engaver's skilful employment to replicate Holbein's Portraits of Personages at the Court of Henry VIII. 'The originals were drawn in outline with coloured chalks, hence the stipple reproductions were rather of the earlier French than of the later English type. The colouring was simple, a flesh pink for the face and hands and a brown for the hair or head-dress, in representing which line engraving was in part employed' (Burch):
From the Original Drawing by Hans Holbein. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi R.A. Historical Engraver to his Majesty.
Published as the Act directs June 7. 1796 by I. Chamberlaine Brompton Row Knightsbridge.
Coloured stipple and etching on roseate paper, 325 x 275mm. 12¾ x 10¾". Slightly soiled.
From the collection of Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth.
[Ref: 9642] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)
There has long been an implicit tension between two ways of printing in colour- printing from one multi-coloured plate or a number of plates inked in different colours, and this continued in the nineteenth century, with George Baxter demonstrating a continuation of the latter trend 'Of all the workers who printed in colours from wood blocks, none have achieved so lasting a fame as George Baxter [...] Baxter was a first-rate draughtsman, an excellent colourist, and withal a painstaking printer, who patented his distinctive method of printing from separate coloured blocks for each colour used' (Burch):
George Baxter
1855.
Baxter method Printed in colour, Engraving. 103 x 152mm. 4 x 6". Original board lost laid on backing.
Seige of Sevastopol (1854-1855) was a major battle during the Crimean War.
Victoria University: Baxter Starr Collection: No.199.
[Ref: 16402] £65.00 (£78.00 incl.VAT)
Baxter's method of printing from multiple blocks to create intricate, postcard-sized compositions, was the apotheosis of a form of mechanical ingenuity, compressing earlier innovations in multiple-plate printing into tiny masterpieces.
But Baxter's baroque jigsaws were still rivalled by single plate colour-printing by the likes of the Paris-based Goupil firm, who produced colour photogravures as early as the 1870s, the plate being individually inked by hand for each impression, from a standard coloured copy which the inker had beside him for reference. 'Production is naturally slow, from six to eighteen copies a day, varying with the size of the picture and the colours used' (Burch). This print was published by Goupil in 1902:
Peint par G.Dubufe. Photogravure Goupil & C.ie.
Imprimé & Publié le 1.er Avril 1902 par Goupil et C.ie Editeurs, Imprimeurs, Manzi, Joyant & C.ie Editeurs, Imprimeurs, Successeurs _ Paris, Londres. New-York Published by Manzi, Joyant & Co.
Colour photogravure, signed by Debufe. 540 x 715mm, 21¼ x 28". A few spots.
[Ref: 10054] £520
Bibliography:
R.M. Burch, Colour Printing and Colour Printers
T. Clayton, The English Print 1688-1802
Richard T. Godfrey, Printmaking in Britain
