Coast of Picardy Seascape, after Bonington, Antique Lithograph, circa 1830
€ 175
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1830
Mapmaker / artist
R. P. Bonington (artist), J. D. Harding (lithographer)
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Tinted lithograph
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14391-4
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
Good condition for its age. Light toning, a few small spots, light soiling to the margins and soft creasing at the upper corners. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
This original lithograph, lettered "On the Coast of Picardy", was drawn on stone by James Duffield Harding after a painting by Richard Parkes Bonington. The lettering records that the picture was then in the possession of His Grace the Duke of Bedford.
The scene is the flat, shining shore of northern France at low tide under a great sky of drifting cloud. A three masted ship lies beached on the sand at the left with its sails loosely furled, and small figures and a cart work around her. In the right foreground a white horse in harness stands in the shallows beside a fisherman loading baskets and a heap of nets and lobster pots, and another basket lies in the foreground at the left. Behind them, chalk cliffs catch the light above a squat fort and the low buildings of a harbor with the masts of further ships.
The lettering reads "J. D. Harding lithog." beneath the image, then the title, then "R. P. Bonington." and "From a Picture in the Possession of His Grace the Duke of Bedford." Bonington died in 1828 at only twenty five, and in the years that followed Harding, one of the finest lithographers of his generation, drew a number of his pictures on stone for the London print trade. The print is worked over a pale tint, with the brightest highlights on the cliffs and the horse kept clear, which gives the sheet its luminous effect.
Bonington's coastal views of Normandy and Picardy were among the most admired and imitated pictures of the Romantic period, and Harding's lithographs carried them to a wide public. This one shows the broad sky and soft, silvery light for which the painter was celebrated.
It would look particularly fine framed with a wide pale mat in a coastal house, a sitting room or a study, with other French seascapes or English Romantic prints.
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.
