Gürzenich House, Cologne, Antique Steel Engraving after Ludwig Lange, c. 1850
€ 190
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1850
Mapmaker / artist
Ludwig Lange (artist), Johann Poppel (engraver)
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13194-86
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; light handling soiling along the edges and a few small spots in the margins. Printed image clean.
About this sheet
A steel engraving of the Gürzenich in Cologne, the great Gothic festival hall of the city, drawn by Ludwig Lange and engraved by Johann Poppel.
The hall fills the center of the sheet, its upper story crowned by a battlemented parapet with corner turrets and a row of tall windows, its ground floor opened by pointed arches. Carts and wagons stand in the square before it, horsemen and townspeople pass, and narrow old buildings press in on both sides.
The plate is lettered "Gez. v. L. Lange" and "Stahlst. v. Joh. Poppel", with the title in three languages: "Haus Gürzenich in Cöln", "Gürzenich House at Cologne" and "Maison Gürzenich à Cologne". Trilingual plates by Lange and Poppel illustrated Der Rhein und die Rheinlande, published at Darmstadt in the middle of the century, and this sheet is believed to come from that work; it is dated circa 1850.
The Gürzenich was built by the city council in the 1440s as a hall for receptions and festivities and is still the setting of Cologne's carnival balls today. Ludwig Lange was an architect and painter from Darmstadt, and Johann Poppel one of the best German steel engravers of his generation.
A strong choice for a collector of German architecture, or for anyone with a link to Cologne. The engraved image measures about 10.9 by 14.7 cm (height by width), and the margins around it carry all the original lettering, which is worth keeping visible in the mat.
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.
