Fingal's Cave, Staffa, Antique View of the Basalt Columns, circa 1850
€ 235
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1850
Mapmaker / artist
Joseph Meyer
Publisher
Bibliographisches Institut, Hildburghausen
Technique
Steel Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-11671-51
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
Handling soiling along the bottom and left edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Corners and edges are not shown by this scan. Clean, even paper tone in the margin. Several larger brown marks.
About this sheet
Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa, an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, circa 1850. The caption below the image reads DIE FINGALS-HÖHLE, that is, Fingal's Cave.
The dark mouth of the cave opens at the center of the plate between ranks of tall, closely packed basalt columns that run along the left side and on toward the right, all capped by a heavy mass of rock. Heavy surf breaks against the columns and into the cave, and the broken stumps of columns stand out of the water at the left and in the foreground. Seabirds fly in and out of the cave and over the cliff. At the right the view opens onto the sea, where a pale half disc sits on the horizon, a steamship trails smoke in the distance and a dark rock stands out of the waves.
No artist or engraver is named on the plate. The imprint at lower left reads Aus d. Kunstanst. d. Bibliogr. Inst. in Hildbh. (from the art works of the Bibliographisches Institut in Hildburghausen), and at lower right Eigenthum d. Verleger (property of the publishers). The plate number CCCXXX is engraved at the top right.
The sheet comes from a dealer's album rather than from a bound set. Meyer's Universum was a serial collection of engraved views with descriptive text, published by Joseph Meyer's Bibliographisches Institut at Hildburghausen from 1833, its plates engraved on steel. Staffa lies off the west coast of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, and Felix Mendelssohn's visit to the cave in 1829 inspired his Hebrides overture.
Handling soiling along the bottom and left edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Corners and edges are not shown by this scan. Clean, even paper tone in the margin. Several larger brown marks.
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.
