Inside the Scratchell's Bay Arch, Plate II of Brannon's Pair, 1828
US$321
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1828
Mapmaker / artist
George Brannon (draughtsman and engraver)
Publisher
George Brannon, Wotton Common, Isle of Wight
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
23 × 30 cm (9.1 × 11.8 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14210-24
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 uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the right and top edges. Scattered foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.
About this sheet
An original Brannon engraving of Scratchell's Bay, Isle of Wight, lettered Plate II and taken from within a deep concavity in the cliffs, published at Wotton on the first of June 1828. The engraver stood inside the hollow and drew outward, so the curved rim of the rock frames the whole composition like a proscenium, and through the opening the sea and the outer chalk stacks of the Needles can be seen in the distance. The printed caption claims for that outline "the sublime Appearance of a perfect and most magnificent ARCH", and the plate is built to prove the point. Figures and a boat are placed in the opening to carry the scale. It is the most theatrical composition in the series.
This sheet is one of the plates of Vectis Scenery, the island views that George Brannon drew, engraved and published from his own house at Wotton Common in the Isle of Wight, the 1829 issue. Brannon worked without an intermediary: he made the drawing on the spot, cut the copper himself and sold the result through the island booksellers, which is unusual and is part of why the series ran for more than fifty years. The plates carry their own earlier publication dates because each view was first issued on its own. The technique is copper-plate line engraving. The views were issued uncolored, as line engravings on white paper, and this impression is uncolored.
This is the companion to the seaward view of Scratchell's Bay, which the publisher numbered Plate I, and the two were engraved to be looked at in turn: the arch from outside, then the arch from within. Each is offered separately, so a buyer can take one or build the pair. The word sublime in the caption is used in its precise Regency sense, the pleasurable terror of great natural scale, which makes this plate a textbook example of picturesque and sublime taste for anyone collecting that theme. Hung opposite its companion in matching frames, the two views work as a single idea.
Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the right and top edges. Scattered foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.
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.
