Sports & Leisure · 19th century
€ 990
One of a kind: this is the sheet in the photographs. Ships from Langweer, the Netherlands.
Good condition. Light, even age-related toning and scattered foxing consistent with age. Colours remain warm and well preserved. No folds or hard creases observed. Minor edge wear only.
Antique Persian Horse Portrait 1898, Oriental Equestrian Wall Art
This original antique colour lithograph from 1898 depicts No. 15. Le Cheval Persan, the Persian horse, a refined oriental type admired in Europe for its elegance, endurance, and noble bearing. The horse is shown in a calm side-on portrait set before an architectural courtyard suggestive of the Middle East, emphasizing lightness of build, refined head, and balanced proportions associated with Persian and broader oriental breeding traditions.
This sheet forms part of the distinguished Belgian equestrian series L’Espèce Chevaline à Travers le Monde. The series was issued as a deluxe loose-leaf publication rather than a bound book and consisted of 40 colour plates in total. Only 150 complete sets were produced, intended for breeders, collectors, and official equestrian institutions, making individual plates scarce and increasingly sought after.
Note: The work is offered unframed, enabling custom framing to personal or interior preferences.
The lithograph was executed after a painting by Otto Eerelman, one of the leading European horse painters of the late nineteenth century. He was admired for his anatomical precision and dignified, unsentimental portrayal of horses, focusing on breed character and ideal conformation rather than narrative scenes. His work provides an important visual record of global horse types at the height of classical breeding culture.
On the reverse of the sheet is an original printed note reading: Espèce Chevaline. Ouvrage contenant 40 planches en couleurs. Édition de la Librairie Néerlandaise à Anvers. This verso inscription provides contemporary confirmation of the series title, the complete set of plates, and the Antwerp publisher.
Issued as a finished loose sheet and intended for framing from the outset, this lithograph appeals both to collectors of equestrian and sporting art and to interior designers seeking refined, exotic horse imagery. The warm palette, architectural setting, and elegant stance give the work a distinctive Oriental character well suited to libraries, studies, country houses, or sophisticated modern interiors.
This is an original nineteenth-century lithograph, not a reproduction or later print.
Condition report:
Good condition. Light, even age-related toning and scattered foxing consistent with age. Colours remain warm and well preserved. No folds or hard creases observed. Minor edge wear only.
Framing suggestions:
Ideal for a dark walnut or ebonized wood frame with a generous off-white or soft ivory mat. A wide mat enhances the architectural depth and gives the work a calm, museum-quality presence.
Technique:
Colour lithograph
Maker:
After Otto Eerelman, Netherlands / Belgium, circa 1898
