Portrait of a Lady with a Cross Necklace, Lithograph by A. Maurin, 1839
€ 165
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1839
Mapmaker / artist
A. Maurin (lithographer), signed and dated in the stone
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Lithograph
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
29 × 19 cm (11.4 × 7.5 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14343-66
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. Toning to the outer margins with a paler border from a former mount; foxing in the lower margin and a few small spots. The image is clean. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
This lithographed portrait shows an unnamed young woman at half length, seated in a scrolled armchair and facing the viewer. Her dark hair is parted in the center and drawn smoothly over the ears, with a spray of roses and small flowers pinned at one side, and she wears drop earrings and a fine chain with a small cross at her throat. Her off the shoulder gown has a pleated bodice, and a fringed silk shawl with lace edging is draped about her arms.
The portrait is signed in the stone at lower right "A. Maurin" with the date "1839". There is no title, no name of the sitter and no printer's line. Antoine Maurin (1793 to 1860) was a Paris portrait lithographer, the brother of the better known Nicolas Eustache Maurin, and he drew sitters from the theater, the court and the private world of the July Monarchy.
Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in Munich in 1796 and by the 1830s Paris was its great center. The artist drew directly on the stone, so a lithographed portrait keeps the softness and immediacy of a chalk drawing. Maurin shows real skill here in the different textures, the glossy hair, the sheen of the silk shawl, the delicate lace and the soft modeling of the face and shoulders, and the background is laid in with loose diagonal strokes that frame the figure.
Where no name is attached, portraits like this are collected for the quality of the drawing, the costume and the character of the face. The fashion of the late 1830s is recorded here in charming detail, which makes the print of interest to collectors of costume and fashion as well as of portraits. It would look well in a bedroom, a dressing room or a group of romantic era portraits.
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.
