Antique Print-TELESCOPE-HARP-ROD OF AESCLAPIUS-DESIGN-SCIENCE-De La Fosse-1780

About this Item

Plate 12: This plate deals with architectural and decorative art designs dealing with science and the arts. It shows a telescope, harp, rod of asclapius, the fork of Neptune etc. Copper plate engraving on verge type hand-laid paper with watermark. Description: This rare antique engraving originates from: 'Algemeen kunstenaars handboek; of Schatkamer voor alle beoefenaren van kunsten en handwerken etc', ( the Dutch version of De la Fosse's 'Nouvelle Iconologie', first published at Paris in 1768) by Jean Charles de la Fosse. Apprenticed for a time to a sculptor, by 1767 he styled himself an 'architect and professor of design.' He published the first volume of his most important work, Nouvelle Iconologie Historique in 1768, containing 110 plates of his designs for furniture, decorative arts and architectural ornaments in the Louis XVI style, most of which he also engraved himself. As the title implies, each design also has specific iconological or symbolic content. De la fosse also manipulated abstract shapes in ingenious and innovative ways to create spatial illusions and ambiguity. Long before late 20th-century Postmodernism he exhibited an allied sensibility: according to the Grove Dictionary of Art, 'He divorced familiar architectural elements the base of a column, a pediment, a single Ionic volute from their usual functions and placed them in new and witty contexts.Artists and Engravers: Jean-Charles De la fosse was a French decorative designer, engraver and architect. J. de Witt, engraver. Condition: Good. General age related toning and minimal staining and/or soiling. Irregular edges as issued. Storage location: A91-10 The overall size is ca. 9.8 x 16.5 inch. The image size is ca. 5.7 x 9.3 inch. The overall size is ca. 25 x 42 cm. The image size is ca. 14.5 x 23.5 cm. Seller Inventory # 26493

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Title: Antique Print-TELESCOPE-HARP-ROD OF ...