Spanish Cavalry Lithograph by José Villegas: Lancer and Officer, 1861

About this sheet

An original antique colour lithograph of Spanish cavalry, lancer and officer, from the Album de la Caballería Española by Serafín María de Sotto, published in Madrid in 1861. The figures are named as they were identified when the sheet was examined by hand.

The sheet comes from the Album de la Caballeria Espanola by Serafin Maria de Sotto, published in Madrid in 1861, the plates drawn by D. J. Villegas and printed by the Imprenta y Litografia Militar del Atlas of San Bernardino in Madrid, whose lettering can be read in the lower margin. The album sets out the history, the dress and the bearing of the Spanish cavalry in a series of lithographs of mounted troops, officers, horses and the equipment that went with them. Each plate is printed in colour by lithography and then finished by hand in gouache, which gives the uniforms a density of body colour that a purely printed sheet does not have, and which is the reason these plates still look so strong on a wall.

The album belongs to the great age of the military costume plate, when armies across Europe commissioned handsome records of their own appearance, and Spanish examples are markedly scarcer on the market than their French and German counterparts. The combination of military history, costume, equestrian subject matter and strong colour is what makes the series decorative as well as documentary, and it is collected on all four counts.

A plate of this size and colour holds a wall on its own, and a pair or a group of them is a natural choice for a study, a dining room or anywhere a little military swagger is wanted.

The print is in good condition for its age, mounted on a cloth covered board, with light toning and a few faint spots; the image is clean and strong.

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.