Royal Abbey Refectory Bench, Musée de Cluny, Antique Print, 1851
€ 190
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1851
Mapmaker / artist
H. Soltau (draughtsman), Kellerhoven (lithographer)
Publisher
Lacroix and Séré, Paris (printed by Engelmann et Graf)
Technique
Chromolithograph
Coloring
Printed in color
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-12228-4-39
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 age toning; faint offset of lettering in the lower margin. Please see the images.
About this sheet
This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in olive and brown tones, lettered "BANC de RÉFECTOIRE, aux armes de France, provenant d'une Abbaye Royale (XVe Siècle Chêne sculpté) Musée de Cluny N° 532." The bench is drawn from the front as a tall enclosed seat under a canopy. A cresting of pierced tracery panels crowns the canopy, which is fringed with cusped arcading. The high back is filled with rows of small tracery panels and a few figure reliefs, the side posts carry standing saints in niches, and the chest-like seat front has tracery panels around a central angel holding the shield of France.
The caption translates as "refectory bench with the arms of France, from a royal abbey (fifteenth century, carved oak), Musée de Cluny no. 532." The running head reads "AMEUBLEMENTS RELIGIEUX Pl. 17." The credits read "H. Soltau del.", "Chromolith. Engelmann et Graf." and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" beneath the caption.
Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, edited the text, and Ferdinand Séré directed the illustrations, which is why his name and the word direxit stand beneath every plate. The work surveys the manners, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, and its chromolithographed plates record objects held around 1850 in churches, museums and private collections. This plate is from the fourth volume, dated 1851, plate seventeen of the section on church furniture.
The dense carving and upright format suit a narrow wall or a pair with another Gothic furniture plate.
Condition: Light age toning; faint offset of lettering in the lower margin.
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.
