About this sheet
Offered here is an antique print of Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, from Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, a color woodblock country house view printed by Benjamin Fawcett circa 1870. It shows the long red brick garden front with its central clock tower, capped by a small domed cupola, rising above a balustraded terrace that runs the width of the building.
Symmetrical wings extend to either side, their warm red brickwork picked out with cooler gray stone dressings at the windows and cornice. The trees framing the composition are shown in early leaf, their foliage thinner and more open than a summer canopy, with bare branches still visible through the new growth, which gives the sheet a distinctly spring character. The lawn in the foreground is left open and plain, so that the long, symmetrical facade and its central tower read clearly against the pale, lightly clouded sky.
This is a color woodblock print, or color wood engraving, printed from a series of separate blocks in register by Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, Yorkshire, one of the finest color woodblock printers of the Victorian period and printer of Morris's bird books. The series, A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, was edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893) and published in London by William Mackenzie; this plate is from an issue of circa 1870.
This antique print of Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, circa 1870, is an original Victorian plate removed from the book, suitable for framing, and a natural choice for admirers of the house and collectors of English country house views. The sheet has full, untrimmed margins, with the title Hatfield House set 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 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.
