Majestic Waterfalls: Niagara Falls and Rhine Falls in 19th-Century Engraving
€ 130
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Sheet size
23 × 22 cm (9.1 × 8.7 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14000-53
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
The engraving is in very good condition, with minor foxing and light edge discoloration. The hand-coloring has been preserved well, adding depth to the scenes and emphasizing the contrast between the flowing water and surrounding landscapes.
About this sheet
Falls of Niagara and the Falls of the Rhine, a copper engraving of 1805 from Friedrich Johann Bertuch's Bilderbuch fuer Kinder (Picture Book for Children), printed in brown with hand color. The plate is headed in German, French, English and Latin as Miscellanea, numbered LVII, and the two views are marked Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
Fig. 1, at the top, shows Niagara: a long line of falling water breaking into spray along the lip of the cliff, with clouds of mist rising above it, a wooded bank in the foreground and a distant shore across the river. Fig. 2, below, shows the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen: the river breaks around two rock stacks in white foam, a mill and houses stand on the left bank, a castle and a church tower crown the cliff at the right, and a small group of people looks on from the shore.
Bertuch's picture book was published at Weimar in twelve volumes from 1790 to 1830, and pairing the two falls here set the great waterfall of North America against the largest in Europe.
