Portrait of a Gentleman with Facsimile Signature, Etching, circa 1885

About this sheet

An etched portrait of a mature gentleman, shown bust length and turned slightly to the left, with thick wavy gray hair, a heavy mustache, a dark coat and a wide black bow tie over a white shirt front. The face is modeled in fine, close etched lines and the background is left largely open, with loose hatching around the head and shoulders. Beneath the bust is a bold facsimile signature with a large looping flourish, and below that, in small letters at the foot of the plate, the printer's line "H. Feh impr." The sitter's name is not lettered on the sheet, and the flourished signature does not identify him.

The plate is printed with a wide, clearly impressed plate mark on a large sheet of heavy paper, in the manner of the etched portraits issued in portfolios, periodicals and commemorative publications of the later nineteenth century. The cut of the coat, the bow tie and the hair and mustache point to the eighteen eighties, and the impression is rich, with a soft film of tone left on the plate across the image area.

Collectors of portrait prints value sheets like this for the quality of the etching and the strength of the characterization rather than for a name, and this is a sensitive and lively likeness: the eyes are alert and directed past the viewer, the mouth is firm beneath the mustache, and the etcher has caught the slight turn of the head with real economy of line. The wide margins give the small image a quiet dignity.

It would sit well in a study or library, framed with a broad mat to respect the generous margins, or hung in a group of nineteenth century portrait etchings.

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.