Antique Master Print-LADY-CHAMBERS-MEZZOTINT-McArdell-Reynolds-1756

Name: Antique Master Print-LADY-CHAMBERS-MEZZOTINT-McArdell-Reynolds-1756
SKU: PICTURA-12871
Availability: InStock

€125.00

‘LOWER LEFT: “J. REYNOLDS PINX.” LOWER RIGHT: “J. MCARDELL FECIT.” BELOW: “PUBLISHED ACCORDING TO ACT OF PARLIAMENT 1756 & SOLD AT THE GOLDEN HEAD IN COVENT GARDEN.”‘

– Elegant mezzotint portrait of Catherine (nee More), Lady Chambers, depicted half-length and facing forward with a calm, composed expression. She wears a broad-brimmed hat adorned with ribbons, pearl earrings, and a low-cut dress with a lace chemise and a fur-trimmed wrap draped over her shoulders. The soft tonal transitions and velvety texture are characteristic of the mezzotint technique, effectively translating the painterly style of Sir Joshua Reynolds into print. Catherine Chambers (c. 1730-1798) was the wife of the architect Sir William Chambers. The original painting was executed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the leading portrait painter of eighteenth-century Britain and first President of the Royal Academy. This print was engraved in 1756 by James McArdell, one of the foremost mezzotint engravers of the period, known for his ability to reproduce the rich tonal effects of Reynolds’s portraits.

In stock

SKU: PICTURA-12871 Categories: By Famous Engravers, Portraits-Figures Tag: Portrait

Description

Medium: Mezzotint engraving on hand laid (verge) paper. Watermark: (lettering).

Sheet size: 23 x 33 cm (9.06 x 12.99 inch). Image size: 20 x 28 cm. (7.87 x 11.02 inch).

Condition: good, given age. Light foxing, soiling, and creasing. Thin paper spots. Small tear at right bottom paper edge. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

LADY CHAMBERS MEZZOTINT, JAMES MCARDELL ENGRAVING, JOSHUA REYNOLDS PORTRAIT PRINT, 18TH CENTURY BRITISH PORTRAIT MEZZOTINT, CATHERINE MORE CHAMBERS PORTRAIT | PCO-E31-48

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

National Portrait Gallery, London; mezzotint by James McArdell after Sir Joshua Reynolds, published 1756.

Reference: NPG D2040.

Biography engraver: James McArdell (c. 1727-1765) was one of the most accomplished mezzotint engravers working in eighteenth-century London. Born in Ireland, he became particularly renowned for his reproductive prints after the paintings of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Biography artist: Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) was the leading portrait painter in Britain and the first President of the Royal Academy. His elegant and idealized portraits of aristocratic and fashionable sitters defined British portraiture in the eighteenth century.