About this sheet
Ivy has climbed over almost the whole of the ground and first floors in this antique print of Drakelowe Hall, Derbyshire, a color woodblock country house view from Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, printed by Benjamin Fawcett circa 1870. Only the gables, the tall clustered chimneystacks and the upper window lights remain in bare stone.
A curving gravel drive sweeps across the foreground, and a single large tree with a loose, open canopy stands at the right. The sky is one of the more atmospheric in the series, worked in bands of gold, orange and gray-blue suggesting early morning or sunset, with birds printed as small dark silhouettes against the lighter cloud. The ivy takes at least two distinct greens, darker in the shadowed lower storeys and lighter and more yellow-green nearer the roofline, so that it reads as a textured, living surface rather than a flat green shape laid over the stone.
The plate comes from A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), the naturalist and clergyman best known for his History of British Birds, and published in London by William Mackenzie; this issue dates from circa 1870. Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, Yorkshire, one of the finest Victorian color woodblock printers, printed it from a series of separate blocks in register, so the color is printed, not hand colored.
An original Victorian plate removed from the book, this antique print of Drakelowe Hall, Derbyshire, is suitable for framing and will appeal to admirers of the house, of Derbyshire, and of English country house views. The sheet retains generous margins, with the title Drakelowe Hall lettered in small capitals beneath the image.
This antique print is in good condition for its age. The paper shows light toning consistent with age, together with a few small spots in the margins, a faint mark in the lower margin and a line of binding holes along the lower edge, where the plate was once bound into the book. Please review the images for further condition details.
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.
