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Lot 58
FRENCH ENGRAVINGS. CLAYTON, EDWARD. EDITOR. French engravings of the Eighteenth Century in the Collection of Joseph Widener, Lynnewood Hall. London: Privately printed at the Chiswick Press, 1923.
11 December 2020, 10:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$3,825 inc. premium
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FRENCH ENGRAVINGS.
CLAYTON, EDWARD. EDITOR. French engravings of the Eighteenth Century in the Collection of Joseph Widener, Lynnewood Hall. London: Privately printed at the Chiswick Press, 1923.
4 volumes, folio. 153 engraved plates (62 colored), captioned tissue guards. Red morocco gilt by Riviere & Son, triple- ruled boards, raised bands, spines gilt in seven compartments, three with lettering, four with ornately gilt foliate cornerpieces and a blooming pineapple shrub centerpiece surrounded by star and circle tools, densely gilt inner dentelles, blue silk paste-downs and free endleaves, top edges gilt, in numbered cloth slipcases. One of the slipcases inexpertly taped along the bottom, otherwise fine.
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED TO 120 COPIES. Arranged alphabetically by artist, this work includes many of the great names of the French Rococo, such as Boucher and Fragonard, who are well represented. As is typical of the era, scenes of daily life among the highest echelons of society predominate (the figures sometimes dressed, for playful sport, in silken shepherd costume), and flirtation is a frequent theme. The final volume has a large section illustrating costume and an index enabling the reader to search by engraver. Late 19th century French lawyer and politician Albert Christophle was the original owner of this collection, which was purchased by American Joseph Early Widener to enhance the Widener family art collection, one of the most notable in the Western hemisphere. The nucleus of the family collection (of which the etchings form only a small part) was gathered by Peter Widener (1834-1915), who began as a modest Philadelphia butcher and became wealthy supplying the Union army with mutton during the Civil War. One of his sons died of typhoid, and another perished on the Titanic, so the entire family fortune went to the remaining son Joseph Widener (1871-1943), in his day one of America's wealthiest men. In 1941 Widener donated the collection to the American public: the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. was built to house this magnificent artistic treasure.
4 volumes, folio. 153 engraved plates (62 colored), captioned tissue guards. Red morocco gilt by Riviere & Son, triple- ruled boards, raised bands, spines gilt in seven compartments, three with lettering, four with ornately gilt foliate cornerpieces and a blooming pineapple shrub centerpiece surrounded by star and circle tools, densely gilt inner dentelles, blue silk paste-downs and free endleaves, top edges gilt, in numbered cloth slipcases. One of the slipcases inexpertly taped along the bottom, otherwise fine.
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED TO 120 COPIES. Arranged alphabetically by artist, this work includes many of the great names of the French Rococo, such as Boucher and Fragonard, who are well represented. As is typical of the era, scenes of daily life among the highest echelons of society predominate (the figures sometimes dressed, for playful sport, in silken shepherd costume), and flirtation is a frequent theme. The final volume has a large section illustrating costume and an index enabling the reader to search by engraver. Late 19th century French lawyer and politician Albert Christophle was the original owner of this collection, which was purchased by American Joseph Early Widener to enhance the Widener family art collection, one of the most notable in the Western hemisphere. The nucleus of the family collection (of which the etchings form only a small part) was gathered by Peter Widener (1834-1915), who began as a modest Philadelphia butcher and became wealthy supplying the Union army with mutton during the Civil War. One of his sons died of typhoid, and another perished on the Titanic, so the entire family fortune went to the remaining son Joseph Widener (1871-1943), in his day one of America's wealthiest men. In 1941 Widener donated the collection to the American public: the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. was built to house this magnificent artistic treasure.