Posted 10 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5042 items)
This is one of a pair i purchased today from people who cleaned out the house of an old woman who passed away recently here in East Oakland. This one is in a lemon gilded frame which is 19" x 23". The print is 12" x 16" approx. I'm pretty certain that it is original and shows a lot of age. when do you think it is from? i love the eyes of the chicken and the rabbit - big drama - fear and loathing. Does anyone know anything about the artist or the printer?
This might help:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1552974&partId=1&people=20957&peoA=20957-1-9&page=1
Jean Georges Wille (1715 -1808) was the engraver. He arrived in Paris in 1736 and started off as an en engraver at a watchmaker, then at a gunsmith and then turned to engraving portraits for Odieuvre the print seller. He was encouraged by Hyacinthe Rigaud and the King, I suppose.
A Catalogue Raisonne of the Select Collection Of-engravings of an Amateur
By Thomas Wilson (collectionneur.)
Gabriel Metsu (1629--1667): Life and Work
By Adriaan E. Waiboer
Page 533.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Metsu
The original is in Madrid at the Thyssen-Bornemisza near the Prado.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Gabriel_Metsu_-_La_Cuisinière.jpg
La Cuisinière Peinture de genre huile sur toile 40 × 33 1657-1667 (ca.)
That poor chicken O.o ! ......Guess they weren't into properly dressing their poultry for dinner back them !
but wonderfully gruesome....lol
And the rabbit awaits a similar fate!
wow! thank you vetraio50! lots of good info there.
La cuisinière hollandoise; print; Gabriel Metsu (After); Jean Georges Wille (Print made by); Jean Georges Wille (Published by); 1756; Paris
Bet you got it for a dollar two 98!
i paid $20 for both of them.
i've found quite a bit more info about these engravings. they really are amongst the best engravings ever from the 18th century. they are french and they are both in the art collections of the British Museum in London, Harvard Art Museum, the Metropolitan, etc... the frame appears to be almost period - Regency, and a very good one. they were very sought after around 1900, but have decreased in popularity along w/ all early art prints since then.