Laufenburg on the Rhine, Antique Steel Engraving after Birket Foster, circa 1877
€ 340
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1877
Mapmaker / artist
Birket Foster (artist), E.P. Brandard (engraver)
Publisher
Cassell, Petter & Galpin, London
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13194-95
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 dramatic steel engraving of Laufenburg on the Rhine, looking down on the river where it breaks into foaming rapids between rocky banks. On the right, the old town crowds onto a rocky outcrop above the water, its tall, weathered houses stacked one above another, with a clock tower rising behind the roofs. On the left bank, a stone bridge with a covered timber span crosses the river toward a second cluster of houses and a hilltop church tower. Beyond, the Rhine broadens into calm water, and a long wooded ridge fades into a stormy sky.
The foreground brings the scene to life: a woman stands at the water's edge, and on the bank at lower right a family rests in the grass beside a broken handcart and scattered tools, while a slender tree leans over the torrent at left.
Laufenburg sits on the High Rhine, where the river forms the border between Switzerland and Germany, and the town takes its name from the rapids shown here. The plate is lettered "Lauffenberg" in an elegant script, after a painting by Birket Foster (1825 to 1899), one of the best loved English watercolor painters of the Victorian era, and engraved by E.P. Brandard. The imprint is that of Cassell, Petter & Galpin of London, and this plate was published in their Picturesque Europe, issued in the second half of the 1870s.
The engraving is a masterly piece of steel engraving: the churning white water is left almost bare against fine dark lines, the rock faces are carefully modeled, and the clouds are built up in delicate tonal gradations. The printed image is clean.
With its strong contrast of light water and dark banks, this view holds its own on a wall from across a room. A cream mat and a dark wood or gilt frame would suit a living room, a library or a traveler's study.
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.
