Stonehenge from the South West, Wiltshire, Antique Steel Engraving, 1831

About this sheet

This antique steel engraving of Stonehenge from the south west, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, is an original print published in London by Thomas Kelly of 17 Paternoster Row in 1831. The plate is lettered "Stonehenge, from the South West" and carries Kelly's dated imprint.

The view shows the great stone circle standing on the open downland, its trilithons and fallen stones set against a broad sky. A carriage of sightseers approaches along the track, while a shepherd with his dog watches over a flock of sheep in the foreground, a combination of rural life and early tourism that appears in many views of the monument from this period. Stonehenge was already one of the most visited antiquities in England, and its origin was still a matter of lively debate among antiquaries.

Thomas Kelly was one of the most successful London publishers of part works in the early nineteenth century, issuing geographies, histories and collections of voyages in weekly numbers for a wide readership. By the early 1830s his plates were increasingly engraved on steel, which allowed the soft tonal gradations seen in the sky and the shadowed stones of this Stonehenge engraving. No engraver is named, and the book in which the plate appeared has not been identified.

The print is uncoloured, with rich tonal work that gives the scene an atmospheric, slightly romantic mood. It would suit a collector of Wiltshire topography or prehistoric monuments, and it would look well in a hallway, study or country interior, framed simply in oak or black.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with toning, foxing and light staining in the margins and a small ragged loss at one corner, clear of the image.

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.