Unknown Gentleman after Hans Holbein, Original Antique Engraving, circa 1800

About this sheet

An original antique engraved portrait of an unidentified gentleman after Hans Holbein, circa 1800. The sitter is not named on the sheet.

Prints of this kind were issued in their own day for a wide public of collectors, readers and admirers, and where no name is attached they are collected for the quality of the drawing, the character of the face and the hand of the maker. The image is after Hans Holbein the Younger (circa 1497 to 1543).

Engraving was the principal medium of the printed portrait for three centuries. The image is cut into a metal plate, inked and printed under heavy pressure, and the engraver builds up the form of a face through the spacing and swelling of the lines, which is why a well engraved portrait rewards close looking.

This sheet comes from a gathering of portraits from across Europe and across two and a half centuries, in engraving, etching and lithography. Portrait prints have been collected in their own right since the eighteenth century, when James Granger's Biographical History of England of 1769 set off a fashion for illustrating books with portraits of the people named in them, and they are still collected today for the sitter, for the maker and for the face itself.

A single portrait frames well in a narrow moulding with a generous mat, and a group of them hung together, whether by period, by profession or simply by the strength of the faces, makes one of the most satisfying walls there is for a study, a library, a landing or a dining room.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with toning, a crease at the upper left corner and scattered foxing in the margins; the image itself is 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.