Oppenheim on the Rhine, Antique Steel Engraving after Birket Foster, c. 1872
€ 160
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1872
Mapmaker / artist
Birket Foster (artist), E.I. Roberts (engraver)
Publisher
William Mackenzie, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13194-80
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 wear to the top left and bottom right corners. Age toning; handling soiling along the edges and foxing with some brown staining in the margins. Brown spots in the lower margin. Printed image clean.
About this sheet
A steel engraving of Oppenheim on the Rhine, dominated by the Gothic Church of St. Catherine, after Birket Foster.
The church rises at the center with its two slender spires, its tall traceried windows catching the light. Roofs and a second church tower crowd below it, and beyond, the broad plain of the Rhine stretches to distant hills under a sky of sunlit cloud. In the foreground an old wooden cart rests by a wall where a small group sits in the grass.
The plate is lettered "B. Foster" and "E.I. Roberts", with the title "Oppenheim" and the imprint "William Mackenzie, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow". It belongs to the same Mackenzie series as the Liebenstein and Sterrenberg plate that Heritage Images records in H.M. Hozier's The Franco-Prussian War (1872), so it is dated circa 1872.
St. Catherine's in Oppenheim is one of the finest Gothic churches between Strasbourg and Cologne, and Foster's high viewpoint shows how it commands the wine town and the valley.
An appealing choice for a collector of German views or of church architecture, it suits a study or dining room. The engraved image measures about 11.5 by 16.3 cm (height by width), and the margins around it carry all the original lettering, which is worth keeping visible in the mat.
Condition: Light wear to the top left and bottom right corners. Age toning; handling soiling along the edges and foxing with some brown staining in the margins. Brown spots in the lower margin. Printed image clean.
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.
