Antique St Eustatius Caribbean View, Ships Harbor, Tournefort 1717
€ 395
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1717
Sheet size
12 × 20 cm (4.7 × 7.9 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14279-6
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
Good condition with age-related toning and light surface wear. Minor creasing and small imperfections to the edges, consistent with age. Plate mark visible. Overall a well-preserved impression with strong contrast and clarity.
About this sheet
A harbor view of a walled town beneath a mountain, with a large sailing ship in the foreground, from Joseph Pitton de Tournefort's account of his voyage to the Levant (Relation d'un Voyage du Levant, published in Paris in 1717 by the Imprimerie Royale). It is an original copper engraving in black and white. The lettering reads "View of the City of Tenedos", with "Vol. II" at the upper left and a page number at the upper right.
The scene looks across open water, with small waves engraved in short horizontal strokes, toward a town climbing a headland. Houses, towers and a castle with crenellated walls stand along the shore and up the slope, and a rounded rocky outcrop breaks the water in front of the walls. Behind the town a pointed mountain rises under a sky of large clouds. A three-masted ship under sail dominates the center, with a second vessel at the right, a small rowing boat at the left and a distant sail on the horizon.
Tenedos is the island now called Bozcaada, in the Aegean off the coast of Turkey, and the view belongs to the Levantine part of Tournefort's travels.
