Thoman(n) von Hagelstein, Ernst Philipp (1657 Augsburg 1726). Marten at the nest of a couple of wild ducks in the reed. Beside three chickens several eggs, of these one each started to burst and broken up resp. with interesting depiction of the already complete chick. Mezzotint printed in brown. Subject size 34.8 x 51.2 cm.

For the purpose of fitting into an album trimmed to platemark on three sides, below possibly under loss of a subtext to the edge of the image, mounted by old on laid paper and edged with line in brown ink. – In the white upper margin old updated inventory inscription: Nro 5 / Tom: X / Fol 92. – Smoothed center fold. – Two tiny hair-fine folds at the neck of the marten.

of a comprehensive old stock, richly nuanced in its chiaroscuro and, as all mezzotints by Ernst Philipp – “one of the best artists of his time”, Nagler – , extraordinarily rare. So then just one sheet only among the about 27,600 of parts I-XXVIII of Weigel’s Art Stock Catalogue (1838/57; per 6,211 the portrait Rauner as only known sheet to Nagler, too, + per 19,715 by the son Tobias Heinrich “Marten, robbing a Pigeon’s Nest”) and this also not in Schwerdt who III, 170 f. records for Ernst Philipp two sets of 4 sheets each from the Baillie-Grohman Collection, one of these here per 28,415. The moreover general scarceness of the mezzotints additionally results from their technique. So already in 1675 the expert von Sandrart figured “clean impressions” of the velvety mezzotint at just about “50 or 60” (!). “Soon after (the picture) grinds off for it not goes deeply into the copper.” Correspondingly Thienemann in 1856 referring to Ridinger :

“ The  mezzotints  are  almost  not  to  be  acquired  on  the  market  anymore  …
and  the  by  far  larger  part  (of  them)  …
(I  have)  only  found  (in  the  printroom)  at  Dresden. ”

On the artist dynasty of the Thomanns, originally residing in Lindau and flourishing for more than 200 years, see Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie XXXVIII, 65 f. And Nagler on Ernst Philipp :

“ In the later period of his life he occupied himself with the mezzotint manner, and had in this in Augsburg just one predecessor ” ,

mentioning in this connection the (so ADB) “Some Animal and Hunting Pieces” just according to hints by the younger Paul von Stetten, 1731-1808, of which “we have found none of these described in greater detail”. Here furthermore his sheet “La Terra” devoted to the gutting of the stag as possible special literature aside first reference to a 4-sheet set of the elements.
Offer no. 28,416 / EUR  614. / export price EUR  583. (c. US$ 755.) + shipping

„ Greetings from your Italian friend and Beethoven collector … Please inform me … “

(Sign. L. B., December 10, 2005)

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