Gentleman with a Large Moustache, Unlettered Engraved Portrait, circa 1890
€ 110
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1890
Mapmaker / artist
Unsigned engraving, engraved monogram RL
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
29 × 23 cm (11.4 × 9.1 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14343-47
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. Plate mark visible. Light toning with a few small spots to the margins, a small stain near the upper right corner and faint marks in the lower right margin. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
This original engraved portrait shows a late nineteenth century gentleman with a strong, open face and a large curling moustache. The plate has no title, name or imprint; the only mark is a small engraved monogram, apparently the letters R and L combined, at the lower right of the image.
The sitter is shown head and shoulders, turned to the right and looking off to the side. His thick gray hair is swept up from the brow, and he wears a high white wing collar with a dark bow tie, a buttoned waistcoat with a watch chain and a pin, and a dark jacket. The face and hair are worked in fine engraved line and stipple of great delicacy, and the figure dissolves into a soft vignette at the shoulders and sides.
The portrait is printed within a deep plate mark at the center of a large, heavy sheet, leaving a wide plain area below the image where a name might have been added in a lettered state. Portraits of this kind were published in the 1880s and 1890s as frontispieces and supplements for illustrated literary and political journals, and the dress, the collar and the cut of the moustache place this one in those decades.
The quality of the engraving is high, with a full range of tone from the bright whites of the shirt to the deep black of the jacket, and the wide margins give the sheet a fine presence. Unidentified portraits of this caliber are collected for the face and the craftsmanship as much as for the name, and this one has real character.
It would frame well in a slim black or gilt molding with a wide mat, and it would sit easily in a study or library with other portraits of the period.
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.
