Oared Galleys and Horse Transports from Trajan's Column, 1722
€ 405
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1722
Mapmaker / artist
Not named on the sheet
Publisher
J. Tonson and J. Watts, London
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14184-4-45
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
Complete sheet, edges straight and without nicks. Light, uneven toning, soiled along all four edges. Foxing and several larger brown spots across much of the margin. Folding plate with the original center fold.
About this sheet
This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a double page folding plate from Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, and Represented in Sculptures. The large upper scene shows boats on the water before an arched gateway with a seated figure and a small statue of a horse and chariot. A man with a long oar stands in a boat with a cabin and sacks; three horses stand in another boat with a rower; and a long galley carries two cloaked men seated at the stern and a crew of rowers. At the right a man gestures from a further boat while men carry loads ashore. Below, a second relief shows a galley with a cabin, banked rowers, standing figures and a sea creature in the waves, and two smaller panels show oared warships with towers on their decks, crewed by armed men.
The captions read "Trajan's Pillar" under the upper scene and again under the lower left relief, and "D Emanuel Marti" under the two panels of towered warships. The figures are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 3. The corners read "Vol I V" at foot left, "Plate 45" at foot right and "Page 155" at top right.
"Trajan's Pillar" is Trajan's Column in Rome. Bernard de Montfaucon (1655 to 1741) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar, and his L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures appeared in Paris in 1719. This English translation by David Humphreys was printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722. Volume four ends with shipping, and this sheet belongs to that section.
The long horizontal composition suits a wide wall.
Condition: Complete sheet, edges straight and without nicks. Light, uneven toning, soiled along all four edges. Foxing and several larger brown spots across much of the margin. Folding plate with the original center fold.
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.
