The Atmeidan or Hippodrome with the Egyptian Obelisk, circa 1850
€ 235
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
Publisher
Peter Jackson, late Fisher, Son and Co., The Caxton Press, London
Technique
Steel Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
21 × 27 cm (8.3 × 10.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14186-2-20
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. Scattered foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.
About this sheet
This original antique steel engraving, The Atmeidan or Hippodrome with the Egyptian Obelisk, is a plate from the second volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, published in London by Peter Jackson about 1850. The sheet shows the open ground of the Atmeidan with the Egyptian obelisk and the walled column of Constantine standing on it, the six minarets and domes of the Sultan Ahmed mosque ranged along one side, and groups of figures, horsemen and a tented stall across the foreground.
This sheet was published in London about 1850 by Peter Jackson, late Fisher, Son and Company, in volume two of The Turkish Empire Illustrated. Thomas Allom traveled through Constantinople and Asia Minor making the original drawings, and Robert Walsh, who had served as embassy chaplain at the Porte, wrote the letterpress that accompanies them. The volume's own printed list of plates names this subject in the order the sheets were bound.
The Atmeidan is the Roman Hippodrome, and the plate catches the three things that still stand on its spine, the obelisk of Theodosius, the serpent column and the walled column of Constantine, with the imperial mosque of Ahmed the First behind them. Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Constantinople in a single view. Each plate in the series carries the draftsman at the lower left and the engraver at the lower right, printed inside the plate mark, with the English title in script below and a French translation beneath it on most sheets, which is how the publisher sold the work on both sides of the Channel. The tonal gradation is the work of the burin alone, with no aquatint or added wash. Framed in gilt or in plain polished wood it suits a study, a library or a dining room, and it sits easily beside maps, marine prints and other nineteenth century travel material.
Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and right edges. Scattered foxing in the margin. 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.
