Maritime · 19th century
€ 349
One of a kind: this is the sheet in the photographs. Ships from Langweer, the Netherlands.
Good condition for a print of this age. Light age toning and occasional minor foxing in the wide margins. The plate mark remains clearly visible around the engraved image.
Chinese Junks and Sailing Vessels – Ferrario Il Costume Antico e Moderno, 1815
This finely detailed hand-colored engraving illustrates two traditional Chinese sailing vessels, commonly known as junks, presented in profile upon calm coastal waters. The plate originates from Giulio Ferrario’s monumental publication Il Costume Antico e Moderno di Tutti i Popoli (Costumes Ancient and Modern of All Peoples), published in Milan in the early nineteenth century. Ferrario’s celebrated encyclopedic series sought to document the architecture, customs, dress, technologies, and everyday life of cultures across the world, reflecting the European fascination with global societies during the Enlightenment and early modern period.
The composition presents two distinct examples of Chinese maritime design. The upper image shows a long, elegantly proportioned junk with multiple masts decorated with colorful flags and streamers. Its hull is ornamented with painted panels and decorative stern elements, illustrating the artistic character that often accompanied practical shipbuilding in Chinese maritime culture. These vessels were commonly used for coastal transport and trade, navigating the complex network of rivers, harbors, and coastal waters that connected Chinese commercial centers.
The lower image depicts another junk in fuller motion, its distinctive battened sails raised and catching the wind. The sails, reinforced with horizontal battens, represent one of the most recognizable features of traditional Chinese ship design. This construction allowed sailors to easily reef and control the sails while maintaining structural strength. Such vessels were widely used throughout the South China Sea and East Asian waters for trade, fishing, and long-distance travel.
European travelers and scholars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were deeply fascinated by Chinese shipbuilding, which differed significantly from Western naval architecture. The segmented sails, high sterns, and compartmentalized hull construction of Chinese junks were widely admired for their practicality and durability. Ferrario’s illustrated volumes introduced these designs to European readers, offering both educational insight and decorative imagery that reflected the global curiosity of the period.
The engraving itself was produced with great precision and later finished with delicate hand coloring, enhancing the subtle tones of the sea, the richly painted hulls, and the bright banners fluttering from the masts. The result is both an informative ethnographic illustration and a visually striking maritime print. Today, such plates are valued by collectors interested in naval history, Asian cultural studies, or decorative maritime art.
This example is an original antique engraving with original hand coloring applied at the time of publication. It is not a modern reproduction. Any presentation images showing the print framed are for visual inspiration only. The print is supplied unframed.
Condition:
Good condition for a print of this age. Light age toning and occasional minor foxing in the wide margins. The plate mark remains clearly visible around the engraved image.
Framing tips:
This print frames beautifully with a warm ivory mat that complements the aged paper tone. A dark walnut or black frame provides an elegant contrast and emphasizes the fine detail of the ships and their sails. When paired with other maritime or Ferrario plates, the image also works well in a gallery-style arrangement.
Technique: Hand-colored engraving
Maker: Luigi Rossi after designs for Giulio Ferrario, Milan, circa 1820s
