Johann Elias Ridinger (Ulm 1698 – Augsburg 1767). The Lynx. “There he sits with furious gesture, or rather stands erected on a piece of rock and keeps the advancing (3) hound in mighty respect” (Th.). Pen-and-ink in brown with brown wash over traces of graphite. Inscribed: J. El. Ridinger del. 1759. 14 × 10¾ in (357 × 272 mm; image size incl. signature 9 × 9⅞ in [230 × 250 mm]).

The fully executed, in conformity with the etching top-arched preparatory drawing in reverse to sheet X, Thienemann 148, of the 22-sheet set of the 1761 concluded The Fair Game Hounded by the Different Kinds of Hounds With annotations how such are hunted, attacked, catched, held fast, brought down, and partly throttled by the same.

The print: The Lynx (comparative illustration)

Not among the nine preparatory drawings in mostly bister of the Weigel stock to Th. 141, 142, 145 (2 ll., of which “the one quite different in format and execution”), 152, 155 (different as before), 158, 160 (instead of the duck a long-beaked merganser) Thienemann (p. 275, g) had come to know.

Adducible nonetheless the Standing Lynx, the right Paw rested upon a Stone – here it is the left upon a root laid bare – Weigel 91 in body color on bluish paper, oblong folio, inscribed J. E. Ridinger ad viv. del. And with what long initial leg the master – “One of Ridinger’s later (sic!) works, too, which he made all himself yet”, Th. – worked on this series, too, is documented by the Excellent, executed chalk drawing as “Original of the etching Th. 145”, the hunted and overcome Wolf, of the collection of drawings of Carl Marschall v. Bieberstein of 10 February 1742 (Frankfurt/Main, Prestel, 1879, no. 57), “including a large number … of drawings by Joh. Elias Ridinger”.

The slightly larger plain image size of 8⅞ × 9⅞ in (22.6 × 25 cm) here against the print (here 8⅝ × 9½ in [21.9 × 24 cm], each without the line with the signature) might be due to the working of the copper print paper, else follow the various above ones of Thienemann/Weigel. As neither traced nor the back reddened/blackened, the drawing ultimately has not been used for the transfer onto the copper. 4 pin-sized tiny holes at the four corners and two further ones by the edge of the image nevertheless reveal it has been worked with.

On strong laid paper with cut watermark Crown center right. – Margins below/above 5.6-6 cm, laterally 0.8-1.1 cm wide. – The not quite perfect preservation solely due to the effects of having been framed for years, thus the paper in addition to the light edge within the cutout of the mat generally evenly toned and with regard to the brown glue strip verso having been spanned in the then obsolete manner. Aside from this absolutely impeccable.

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1. Catalog einer Sammlung von Original-Handzeichnungen … founded and bequeathed by J. A. G. Weigel in Leipsic, 1869, Ridinger Appendix.↩