Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1806-1809
Mapmaker / artist
Christian Schkuhr
Publisher
Published by the author, Wittenberg
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Original hand color
Sheet size
24 × 20 cm (9.4 × 7.9 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14438-21
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 towards the edges. Handling soiling along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.
About this sheet
This original antique hand-colored copper engraving of Polypodium quercifolium is plate 13 from Christian Schkuhr's survey of the ferns and fern allies, printed at Wittenberg between 1806 and 1809. Polypody is the genus Schkuhr gives most room to, and it runs through the first third of the volume. The sheet is lettered Polypodium quercifolium beneath the figure, in the engraved script Schkuhr used throughout the work, and the plate number is engraved at the upper right. Beside the habit drawing Schkuhr adds the small lettered analyses he is known for, the spore cases, the scales and the sections that make the plate useful to a botanist as well as pleasant to look at.
The plate comes from Christian Schkuhr's account of the twenty-fourth Linnaean class, the cryptogams, the plants that reproduce by spores rather than by flowers. Schkuhr, who was born at Pegau in 1741 and died at Wittenberg in 1811, worked first as a gardener, studied at the University of Wittenberg, and taught himself drawing and engraving so completely that he drew, engraved and published his own plates. The fern volume appeared in nine instalments between 1806 and 1809 and carries 221 plates, numbered to 173 with lettered supplements added as new material reached him.
This is an engraving on copper with original hand coloring, printed on the bluish paper that the first impressions of the work were issued on. The engraved line carries the structure and the watercolor carries the color, applied by hand so that no two copies of the plate are quite alike. Fern plates hang well because the subject is shape rather than incident, and a sheet like this reads clearly from across a room. It suits a study, a hallway, a bathroom or a kitchen, and it sits comfortably with other botanical work, with natural history prints and with plain modern interiors where a single green form on cream paper is enough.
Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.
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.
