STEEL ENGRAVING – “SUNSHINE” from the sculpture by J. Durham, engraved by W. Roffe, published in 1878.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 7 1/8” x 3 ¼”, and is matted to 11” x 14” for easy framing.

      In a lecture Flaxman observes: – “The Sculptor must not forget that his art is limited in comparison with painting.  Colors and their effects are beyond his bounds.  Whether the act he represents was performed in bright midday, or the darkness of midnight, concerns him not – his forms be equally perfect.  Even in bas-relief, a tree or two, some rude stone, or a wall slightly marked in the background must indicate a forest, a mountain, or a palace, without detailing a portrait of their component parts.”  With such restricted powers, as regards designs or composition, a work of sculpture that offers to us an original idea must ever invite and command respect, even when the execution or carrying out the idea might scarcely justify it.  Originality in Art evidences thought, study, independence and self-reliance; he also seeks it looks away from the past, and onward into some unknown region of fancy, where Thought has not hitherto penetrated, nor Imagination as yet found a resting-place.

    In Mr. Durham’s work, it might at first appear that as the idea was not complete in itself, the sculptor’s art could by no possibility render it perfect.  The difficulty, however, is shown to have been overcome.  The proper attributes of sculpture are sentiment, or action allied with beauty of form, and here the last two qualities are united; the light or sunshine, which is required to make the idea perfect, is supplied, inferentially, by the action.

   The figure – that of a young girl – is very gracefully and correctly modeled.  The attitude is unconstrained and perfectly natural.  The sharpness of the shaded part of the right arm, which seems to cause the limb to lose something of its rotundity, is occasioned by the strong light, which falls upon the arm in the room where the figure stood when the drawing was made.  It is of small size, and executed in marble.

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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