Operating Chair and Seated Patients, Diderot Chirurgie Plate XII, circa 1772
€ 340
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1772
Mapmaker / artist
Antonio Baratti
Publisher
Giuseppe Aubert, Livorno
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13259-13
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
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and top right corners. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left.
About this sheet
An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, combining furniture and figures in four numbered parts. At the top right is a tall chair with a deep, sweeping upholstered back and seat on a square legged frame, the back stayed by a long prop (Fig. 1); at the top left is a solid board hinged to a base and raised at an angle on a rectangular prop whose feet rest in toothed rails (Fig. 2). Below, an adult man sits on a draped stool with his thighs drawn up and apart and his wrists tied to his ankles with cords, while an assistant behind him holds both shoulders and a man in wig and coat stoops toward him at the left (Fig. 3). At the right a child is held in the same position on the lap of an attendant seated in a high backed chair (Fig. 4).
The plate number "Pl. XII." is lettered at the top right outside the border, the section title "Chirurgie." is centered below the border, and the page number "73." is at the lower left. The plate is signed in full at the lower right, "Antonio Baratti s.", the signature of the Venetian engraver Antonio Baratti (1724 to 1787), who cut plates for the Livorno edition.
The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert was accompanied by volumes of engraved plates, the Recueil de planches, and this plate comes from their Chirurgie section in the Livorno edition published by Giuseppe Aubert, whose plate volumes appeared between 1771 and 1778. Each numbered figure is keyed to an explanation printed in the text volume, which is not part of the sheet.
With its costumed figures, the plate works well framed on its own.
Condition: Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and top right corners. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left.
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.
