The Smithy 1838 |
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Original etching.
Signed and dated in the plate.
S 168 x 255 mm; P 83 x 127 mm; I 73 x 116 mm
SOLD
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Original Thomas Creswick etching.
Brilliant impression with fine, sparkling line. From the only edition, as issued in 1844 in one of the Etching Club’s earliest publications, the scarce folio entitled Etch’d Thoughts.
This etching was designed to accompany a poem entitled The Smithy by Henry W. Longfellow:
Under a spreading Chestnut tree.
The village Smithy stands;…
… When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school.
look in at the open door;
they come to see the flaming forge,
and here the bellows roar,…
Once again, it is the marvellous treatment of light, which gives this image its superb glowing quality. Thomas Creswick has a special ability to convey a sense of glorious rustic warmth to his rural scenes of this nature – it was through this style of etching by Thomas Creswick that Samuel Palmer found the source of inspiration for his etchings such as Christmas or Folding the Last Sheep.
On off-white china paper applied to original warm white wove backing sheet, with margins. Very good original condition. Image surface excellent. |
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