Three Blocks of Hieroglyphs from Small Alabaster Pots, Niebuhr, 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
21 × 27 cm (8.3 × 10.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14407-1-38
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 top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin.
About this sheet
This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate XXXVIII of volume 1 of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption reads, in Dutch and then in French, Beeld-Schriften, op kleine Albasten Potten. and Hiérogliphes, sur de petits Pots d'Albâtre., meaning "Hieroglyphs on Small Alabaster Pots".
As on the previous plate, only the inscriptions are copied and no vessels are drawn. Three blocks of hieroglyphs stand side by side within the border, each lettered at the top: C at the left with five ruled columns, E in the middle, shorter and set lower, with four columns, and D at the right with five columns. The signs run from top to bottom in each column and are copied in outline with fine hatching: birds of several kinds, seated figures, an eye, a hand, pointed shapes, coiled cords, half circles, water lines and small enclosures. A number of signs are engraved in light stipple only, where the original was worn, so the copy records the state of the surface as well as the lettering.
The plate number Tab: XXXVIII. is engraved upright along the right margin, beside the border. No artist's or engraver's name is lettered on this sheet.
The sheet comes from the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the Tome Premier, translated from the German and issued at Amsterdam by S. J. Baalde and at Utrecht by J. van Schoonhoven and Comp., with the date MDCCLXXVI on its title page. 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 top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin.
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.
