Jean Baptiste Le Prince

Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, ... (The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants)

Jean Baptiste Le Prince's "Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, et les Marchands d'Oeufs d'Esturgeon" is an original etching created by the French artist in 1765. This etching depicts Russian merchants offering their goods in town, one selling live fish, pulling his sleigh through the village, while the other two merchants carrying large platters on their heads are selling sturgeon eggs (Caviar). This etching is printed upon thick 18th century laid paper and with margins and signed and dated in the plate to the lower left by Le Prince. (The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants) originates from Jean Baptiste Le Prince's first published set of Russian etchings published in Paris in 1765.

The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants Original Etching by Jean Baptiste Le Prince

Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, et les Marchands d'Oeufs d'Esturgeon (The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants)

View other original works of art by Jean Baptiste Le Prince.

Jean Baptiste Le Prince (Metz, 1733 - St. Denis-du-Port, 1781)
#	Image	English Title & Artist	French Title	Date	Medium	Notes
01-		The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants by Jean Baptiste Le Prince	Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, et les Marchands d'Oeufs d'Esturgeon	1765	Original Etching	Signed and dated in the plate by Jean Baptiste Le Prince
02.-		The Young Egg Merchant of Octha by Jean Baptiste Le Prince	La Petite Marchande d'Oeufs d'Octha	1765	Original Etching	Signed and dated in the plate by Jean Baptiste Le Prince

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Title:	Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, et les Marchands d'Oeufs d'Esturgeon (The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants)
Artist:	Le Prince, Jean Baptiste (Metz, 1733 - St. Denis-du-Port, 1781)
Date:	1765
Medium:	Original Etching
Note:	Jean Baptiste Le Prince: An important French etcher and painter, Jean Baptiste Le Prince first studied painting techniques in his native Metz. He then travelled to Paris around 1750 and became a leading student of the great painter, Francois Boucher (1703-1770). Le Prince's early paintings in both theme and style are comparable to his master's rococo techniques.
	In 1758, Jean Baptiste Le Prince journeyed to Russia to work for Catherine the Great at the Imperial Palace, St. Petersburg. He remained in Russia for five years and also travelled extensively throughout Finland, Lithuania and even Siberia. When Jean Baptiste Le Prince returned to Paris in December, 1763, he brought with him an extensive collection of drawings which he employed as the basis for a number of fine paintings and etchings. J. B. Le Prince was elected a full member of the Academie Royale in 1765.
	Jean Baptiste Le Prince's graphic art of Russia and its peoples is significant in that he based his compositions entirely upon his own designs, lending a much more realistic portrayal to his views than other eighteenth century contemporaries. He is also credited with being the first artist (in 1768) to introduce aquatint into his etched and engraved plates. He may even have been the inventor of aquatint, the tonal graphic art that would later be so skillfully used by such masters as Goya, Debucourt, Delacroix and Rowlandson.
	Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, et les Marchands d'Oeufs d'Esturgeon (The Live Fish Merchant and the Sturgeon Egg Merchants) originates from Jean Baptiste Le Prince's second set of Russian etchings. Published in Paris in 1765 the set consisted of six plates portraying merchants in both Russia and Finland. This original etching is the fourth plate and bears this number to the upper left.
	Here, the scene depicts three merchants offering their goods throughout the town. The main merchant pulling the barrel on a sleigh is selling live fish. However, interestingly enouogh, the other two are selling sturgion eggs, known by most people today as caviar. Caviar is made from the unferilized eggs of the sturgion.
Raisonne:	Le Baron Roger Portalis & Henri Beraldi, Les Graveurs du Dix-Huitieme Siecle, Margand et Fatout, Paris, 1882, Vol. 2, pp. 667 - 677.
	Catalogue #7.
Source:	2me suite de divers cris de marchands de Russie
Size:	8 X 9 1/2 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Matted With 100% Archival Materials
Buy Now	Price: $295.00 US
Condition:	Printed upon thick 18th century laid paper and with margins cropped to the plate-mark by a previous owner. Signed and dated in the plate to the lower left. Containing slight foxing, mostly on the verso, else a fine, early impression and in good condition throughout. Le Marchand de Poisson Vivant, et les Marchands d'Oeufs d'Esurgeon represents a prime, original example of the influential art of Jean Baptiste Le Prince.
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