STEEL ENGRAVING - From the original Painting by Sir George Beaumont in the National Gallery in London, England. As described in Pictures of the Great Masters, 1840.  Engraved by J.C. Bentley.  Measurements page size 8"x 10 5/8", engraving 4 5/8"x 6 3/4", matted to 9"x 12" for easy framing.

SIR GEORGE BEAUMONT

LANDSCAPE WITH JAQUES AND THE WOUNDED STAG

     The subject of Sir.George’s picture, as is pretty well known, is taken from the first scene in Shakespeare’s “AS YOU LIKE IT”,where the melancholy or philosophical Jaques is introduced as moralizing on a deer, which has been struck by the hunter’s shaft, and is come weeping to allay her feverish thirst in a brook which brawls through the forest of Arden.

     There are woods and glens so much resembling that which is here depicted, in the neighbourhood of Coleorton in Leicester (the seat of the Beaumont family,) that we have little doubt it is, in all the main features, and perhaps in all its datails, a view from Nature: and that scarcely more than the wounded deer and the philosophizing courtier are imagined from the poetry of the great dramatist. Of the fact of the locality of the scene we are indeed well persuaded, having formerly been favoured with the sight of sketches of similar subjects (taken probably in Charnwood forest) from the pencil of this tasteful Baronet. But, whether so or not, whatever is placed before the public on the Shakespeare  pedestal must submit to have its proportions and its propriety examined.

     The brilliant Mr.Washington Irving, under his incognito of Geoffrey Crayon, supposes that Shakespeare himself, though he has conferred a foreign name on his forest, really copies, or studied from, English scenery; and fancies he knows the glades, trees, and rivulets, among the wild wood scenery of the estate, formerly that of Sir .Tomas Lucey of Charlecote, where the poet once exercised his wits, perhaps his deer-stalking talent, and which he afterwards introduced into his comedy of  “As you like it".

     In this case, Sir George Beaumont has but followed the example of Shakespeare in his employment of English scenery; and be it remembered here, that Leicestershire and Charecote are scarcely more than five and twenty miles apart. Our farther references must be to the poetry.

"To-day, my lord of Amiens, and myself,

did steal behind him, as he lay along

Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out

upon the brook that brawls along this wood;

To the which place a poor sequester'd stag,

that from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,

Did come to languish, and, indeed, my lord,

the wretched animal heav'd forth such groans,

That thier discharge did stretch his leathern coat

almost to bursting; and the big round tears

Coursed one another down his innocent nose

in piteous chase; and thus the hairy fool,

Much marked of the meloncholy Jacques, 

stood on th' extremest verge of the swift brook,

                                       Augmenting it with tears."                                             

     Now, speaking in general terms, and looking at this performance of Sir.George’s in the cursory and amusing way, in which pictures are generally regarded, it sustains its dignity, and keeps its countenance with regard to colour and chair'-oscuro without blenching, though surrounded by splendid works of high reputation: yet we may not dissemble, that, when tested by comparison with Shakespeare and Nature, it is liable to some objections. As the poet has specified an oak, and dwelt emphatically upon its romantic roots, the painter should doubtless have done the same. The root of Sir George’s oak is not so picturesque nor so bold and conspicuous as its archetype in the comedy, or as some others that we have seen from the Baronet’s pencil; neither are its lateral branches sufficiently angular and vigorous, the stream of water in the picture is rather a river than a brook; and, in consequence, the wounded deer is so far distant from the sentimental philosopher, that we could  neither see his tears, nor hear his groans.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, etchings, 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, lithographs, ect. 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 in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of it's age.

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