STEEL ENGRAVING – “CROSSING THE STREAM” from the original painting by Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, engraved by J. Cousen, published in 1878.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 7” x 9 ½”, and is matted to 11” x 14” for easy framing.

    This picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834 under the title of “Returning from Market:” but the title was changed to the above, as more fully expressing the nature of the composition.

      The foreground presents a group, which seems composed of a farmer’s wife, mounted, her daughter leading another horse bearing a young boy, and apparently, a female-servant, carrying a basket of poultry and pail.  The background to the left through the avenue of trees shows the road to the village whence they have traveled, and that to the right leads to the farmhouse, their probable destination. The space between the figures is occupied by rather extensive bed of rushes, and the distance stretches away behind a flat country to the horizon.  The prevailing qualities of this picture are light and air; the breadth of the former and the transparency of the latter are rendered in a very masterly manner; even the thick masses of foliage are most luminously painted, and yet without the least sacrifice of power, - for the work throughout exhibits more body than is commonly found in Calcott’s pictures.  There is a degree of elegance, too, in the pose and grouping of the figures, which contributes to its beauty; the respective portions of the composition are also very nicely balanced, and the eye is judiciously led from the centre -the chief point of interest - to each retiring distance.

      Sir Augustus Wall Calcott was born at Kensington, one of the western suburbs of London, in 1799.  His first essay in life was as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, and for a time he studied music and painting together.  Gradually, however, he relinquished the former, and the admission of a portrait to the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1799, decided his choice.  Portraits and landscapes were at first alternately produced, but it was soon found that his genius was best suited for the latter branch of art, and for nearly forty years his exhibited works continued to be almost exclusively landscapes.  In later years he painted several historical pictures of considerable merit, but his fame will continue to rest on his landscapes.  He received the honor of Knighthood in 1837, seven years before his death, which occurred at Kensington on the 25th of November 1844.  He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1806, and four years afterwards to full membership.

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, 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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