Buffon, Steel Engraving by Sichling, Creuzbauer, Karlsruhe, circa 1840

About this sheet

This steel engraved portrait shows Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707 to 1788), the French naturalist, half length and turned slightly to the left. He wears a powdered wig with rolled curls, a lace jabot and a coat richly embroidered with floral sprays down the front, and the bust is set within a soft oval of clouded tone.

The portrait is lettered "Buffon." in script beneath the image, with the engraver's credit "Sichling sc." at lower right and the imprint "durch Kunst-Verlag W. Creuzbauer in Carlsruhe" below the name. Lazarus Gottlieb Sichling (1812 to 1863) was a Leipzig engraver known for his fine portrait plates, and the art publisher W. Creuzbauer of Karlsruhe issued series of engraved portraits of famous men in the 1830s and 1840s.

Buffon was keeper of the Jardin du Roi in Paris and the author of the Histoire naturelle, issued in thirty six volumes during his lifetime, the most widely read work of natural history of the eighteenth century. He wrote on the history of the earth, on animals, birds and minerals and on mankind itself, and his elegant prose made natural history a subject for every educated reader in Europe.

Steel engraving came into general use in the 1820s and allowed a plate to print large editions without wear while holding very fine lines. Here the engraver has used that fineness to render the gleam of the wig, the delicate lace and the raised embroidery of the coat, and the face is modeled in soft, even tone.

A portrait of Buffon is an obvious companion for antique natural history prints, and it would hang well in a study, a library or alongside botanical and zoological plates.

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.