Guzel Hissar and the Plain of the Meander, Antique View, circa 1850

€ 190

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: circa 1850
Mapmaker / artist: Thomas Allom (after); engraved by S. Lacey
Publisher: Peter Jackson, late Fisher, Son and Co., London and Paris
Technique: Steel Engraving
Coloring: Uncolored
Sheet size: 21 × 27 cm (8.3 × 10.6 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-14186-1-14

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

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and right edges. All four corners complete.

About this sheet

This original antique steel engraving shows Guzel-hissar and the Plain of the Meander, a plate from the first volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, published in London by Peter Jackson about 1850. The town of Guzel-hissar seen from a rocky slope above the plain of the Meander, minarets and domes among dark cypresses, the river valley opening away to distant mountains and a goatherd with his animals in the broken foreground.

The engraving belongs to Peter Jackson's issue of the Allom and Walsh Turkish Empire Illustrated, printed at the Caxton Press in London about 1850 from plates first cut for Fisher's Illustrations of Constantinople and its Environs. Allom was an architect as well as a topographical draftsman, which is why his buildings are measured rather than merely picturesque, and the steel engravers who worked up his drawings were the best in London. Steel engraving was introduced in the eighteen twenties and is what made illustrated travel books of this scale possible, because a steel plate will yield many thousands of impressions without the softening that copper suffers after a few hundred. The result is the very fine close worked line seen here, particularly in the skies and in the water, and an impression that stays crisp across the whole edition.

The Meander is the river that gave the word meandering to the language, and Allom's view down its plain, with the town held small against the great recession of hills, is the finest pure landscape in the Asia Minor section. It frames well on its own over a desk or a chest, and it is equally at home in a group with other Ottoman and Levantine views, where the uniform plate size of the series makes an even wall.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and right edges. All four corners complete.

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.