Roman Ships, Prows, Coins and a Loading Scene from Trajan's Column, 1722
€ 415
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-14184-4-44
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, minor nicks along the top edge. Light, uneven toning, lightly soiled along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in 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 upper left holds parts of ships: carved prows and rams with animal heads, a curved stern, an animal head in a frame and a carved stern post, with an octagonal gem showing a ship with figures and a sail. Below them a boat full of men with shields, a ship with a tower, four coins with oared ships and two diagrams of stepped lines for banks of oars. At the upper right four boat scenes show a boat loaded with bales, a boat loaded with three barrels, two men loading barrels into a boat, and a man standing in an oared galley with an arched cabin. The large scene at the foot shows men carrying sacks, a shield and loads down to two boats beside a round tower and buildings, an oared galley with a crew of rowers, and standard bearers and men in cloaks massed on the quay.
The captions read "Fabretti" under four prows, "Arsenal de Genes" under the animal head, "Beger" twice, and "Trajan's Pillar" under the four boat scenes, the ship with the tower and the large scene. Three coins are lettered FELICITATI. AVG, FELI. CITATI AVG and COS. III. P. P. The figures are numbered 1 to 21. The corners read "Vol IV" at foot left and "Plate 44" at foot right; at top right "Page 13" is legible, the last digit worn.
"Trajan's Pillar" is Trajan's Column in Rome. Bernard de Montfaucon (1655 to 1741) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar; his L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures appeared in Paris in 1719, and 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.
It suits a room with a maritime theme.
Condition: Complete sheet, minor nicks along the top edge. Light, uneven toning, lightly soiled along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in 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.
