Hieroglyphs Painted on Wood and Stone, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1776
€ 260
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1776
Mapmaker / artist
Carsten Niebuhr
Publisher
S. J. Baalde, Amsterdam, and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp., Utrecht
Technique
Copper engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
27 × 21 cm (10.6 × 8.3 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14407-1-40
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and top edges, with a gray mark at the lower left corner. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners are present.
About this sheet
This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate XL of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption below the image reads Beeld-schriften, op Hout en steen geschildert. in Dutch and Hiérogliphes, peints sur du bois et de la pierre. in French, meaning hieroglyphs painted on wood and on stone.
Inside a double ruled border the plate sets out several vertical strips of hieroglyphs, each copied as a separate piece and keyed by a capital letter. At the left, strip A is the longest, running almost the full height of the frame, with birds, eyes and water lines among its signs and a small standing figure at its foot. Beside it is strip B, then a shorter strip and a second short strip both marked D, a further strip D, and a small strip C at the upper right. The lower right quarter holds E, a larger fragment of four columns with a ragged, broken upper edge. Its signs are drawn bolder than the rest: birds, eyes, seated figures and vessels. At the foot of the columns stand four male figures in short kilts, two of them holding long staffs. The letters let the reader match each piece to its description in the text.
The plate carries no artist's or engraver's name. The plate number Tab: XL. is engraved at the upper right.
The plate belongs to the first volume of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, marked TOME PREMIER and Traduit de l'Allemand on its title page, which carries the imprint of S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp. at Utrecht and the date MDCCLXXVI. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive.
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and top edges, with a gray mark at the lower left corner. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners are present.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
