STEEL ENGRAVING – “ROBINET” from the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, engraved by L. Stocks, printed in 1885.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 8” x 6 3/8”, and is matted to 12” x 16” for easy framing.

     The beautiful painting was one amongst several of Reynolds’ pictures in the collection of that once belonged to Sir. Robert Peel.   That a man whose service in the active war of politics was so prolonged should have found opportunity during the excitements of public life to exercise a calm judgment in bringing together a really good collection of works of Art must always remain a gratifying recollection.  The arrangement of this portrait-picture is simple enough.   For a spectator of the present day it is very hard to resist a first impression almost of quaintness, due to the old fashion of the costume; the ease and elegant simplicity of the original are apparent at the first glance, but the brightness of the coloring is what constitutes the most noticeable characteristic.

    This is what Allan Cunningham says of Sir Joshua Reynolds and his favorite subjects for painting: – “Of Children, indeed, he seems to have been particularly fond; nor can we forbear imagining he has romped or ridden with them on the parlour-broom, sorrowed with them over the loss of their favorite birds, smiled with them on their endowed with new finery, and enjoyed all the mixed surprise and triumph expressed in the face of ‘Muscipula,’ on catching a mouse in a trap.  It is true they are all children of condition, with their nurses wet and dry; that their clothes are of the finest texture and the latest fashion and that we are conscious of looking at future lords and ladies.  But nature overpowers all minor feelings, and we cannot refrain from doing involuntary homage to the genius of the painter who has gladdened us with the sight of so much innocence and beauty.”

   An anecdote is told of the artist, which at once shows that he found his themes in nature, and that they were not always such as had been cradled in the lap of luxury.  It is the history of his picture of the “Children in the Wood.”  A beggar’s child was his model for some work upon which he was occupied; the child, overcome by fatigue in remaining long in a constrained position, fell asleep, and “presented the image of one of the Babes, which the painter immediately secured.”  He had scarcely transferred it to his sketchbook, when the child turned in its sleep, and the natural grace of the movement supplied him with a subject for the other, which he instantly sketched; and from these sketches he subsequently produced the picture.  How often has a mere chance, the accident of a moment, furnished a thought for which even genius might have long sought in vain.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, and lithographs are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.

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