Paris, the Seine and the Louvre, Antique Steel Engraving, Thomas Kelly, 1832
€ 120
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1832
Mapmaker / artist
Unsigned steel engraving
Publisher
Thomas Kelly, 17 Paternoster Row, London
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Fair
Reference
BG-14391-45
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
Good condition for its age. Toning, foxing and light staining in the margins, and a pale stain in the sky at the upper left of the image. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
An original steel engraving of Paris on the Seine, lettered simply "Paris" beneath the image, with the imprint "London. Published by Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, 1832." No artist or engraver is named.
The view looks along the river to a long stone bridge of several arches, with tall houses lining the far bank. On the right the river front of the Louvre stretches into the distance, its corner pavilion with steep roofs and dormers in the foreground and a domed lantern above, while people walk along the quay beneath a lamp post. In the foreground fishermen in a rowing boat haul in a net, two laden barges lie moored near the bank, and a tall poplar rises beyond the quay.
The print shows Paris in the early years of the July Monarchy, before the great rebuilding of the city under Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, when the quays still kept their working river traffic, small sheds and moored boats. The sky and water are rendered in a fine grained tone that gives the scene a soft, atmospheric quality, a manner made possible by the hardness of steel plates, which could carry such delicate work through long print runs.
Thomas Kelly of Paternoster Row was one of the most successful London publishers of books issued in weekly numbers, selling geographies, histories and collections of voyages and travels to a wide readership in the first half of the nineteenth century. By the early 1830s many of his plates were engraved on steel, as this one is. The particular book in which it appeared is not named on the sheet.
It is an attractive early view of Paris for lovers of the city and collectors of French topography, and it would look well in a hallway, bedroom or study in a slim gilt or black frame.
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.
