Marquis of Argyll, Covenanter Leader, Steel Engraved Portrait, circa 1865
€ 145
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1865
Mapmaker / artist
Unsigned steel engraving, after the portrait at Inveraray
Publisher
William Mackenzie, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
27 × 18 cm (10.6 × 7.1 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14343-12
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. A few small spots to the margins; faint pencil numbering in the lower left margin. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
A steel engraved portrait lettered "Marquis of Argyll.", showing Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll (1607 to 1661), the leader of the Scottish Covenanters. He is shown half length in armor, with shoulder length dark hair, a turned up mustache and a small pointed beard, a deep collar of scalloped lace falling over a breastplate crossed by a broad pale sash. Beneath the image is the line "Engraved by permission from the original Painting at Inverary." Inveraray Castle on Loch Fyne is the seat of the Campbells, Dukes of Argyll, so the engraving reproduces the family's own portrait. The publisher's line at the foot of the sheet reads "William Mackenzie, London, Edinburgh & Glasgow." No engraver is named.
Argyll was the most powerful man in Scotland in the 1640s. Chief of Clan Campbell, he led the Covenanting party against Charles I, fought a long and bitter struggle with the royalist Marquess of Montrose, and on New Year's Day 1651 placed the crown on the head of Charles II at Scone. After the Restoration he was tried for treason and beheaded in Edinburgh in 1661, and he has been remembered ever since both as a statesman of principle and as a formidable political operator.
William Mackenzie of Glasgow was one of the most productive Victorian subscription publishers, issuing illustrated reference works, histories and biographies in parts, each with full page portraits of this kind. The style of the plate and the form of the imprint place this issue in the eighteen sixties.
The engraving is crisp and well printed, with the steel ruling of the background, the gleam of the armor and the open pattern of the lace all rendered with care. It suits a collection of Scottish history, of Clan Campbell or of seventeenth century portraiture.
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.
