Title: |
James Thomson's "The Seasons: Winter" (A Set of Four Original Engravings) |
Engraver: |
Neagle, John (London, 1760
- Philadelphia, 1822) |
Artist: |
Metz, Johann Martin (Bonn, c. 1730 - London, 1800) |
Artist: |
Metz, Caroline (London, Active, 1773 - 1794) |
Date: |
1792 |
Medium: |
Original Stipple and Line Engraving |
Publisher: |
John Murray, London |
Note: |
John Neagle: A British engraver of portraits
and sporting and genre subjects, John Neagle was regularly commissioned
by London publishers in the late eighteenth century and the first decade
of the nineteenth century. His large plates include "Foxhunting", after J.
N. Sartorius (1795), and, "Nelson Wounded at Tenerife", after Richard Westall
(1809). |
|
Around 1810, John Neagle settled in Philadelphia and continued
to work for the publishers of that city. His son, John B. Neagle (1796-1866)
was also an engraver of note. |
|
James Thomson (1700-1748) completed his major opus in blank verse, "The
Seasons", in 1730. The Seasons introduced nature as a self-sufficient
theme and became one of the most popular poems in English literature
throughout the eighteenth century. Various publications of the poem contained
artistic interpretations, in original engraving and etching, of each
of the four seasons, usually as frontis-pieces. As "The Seasons" touched
upon a great many elements of seasonal change, artists and engravers
were at tremendous liberty to depict Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
according to their preferences. |
|
John Neagle engraved two very interesting plates for "The
Seasons" - "Spring" and "Winter". "Spring"
presents us with a sensual image of nature's bounties in the pastoral tradition.
A shepherd and his lover occupy the foreground. Families of birds (and birds making
families) rest in the branches above them. Across the stream more youthful couples dance
and play music. All the people and animals are at perfect peace -- and
are not at all concerned about the lion emerging from the bushes. |
|
If "Spring" is representative of youth and beauty, "Winter" is
surely its opposite. A patriarch and his wife sit close to the fire. Their
grandchildren sit close by and seem alarmed by the activities of a pair
of cats on the hunt. Provisions for the long, cold winter are stored above
the hearth and doorway. As in "Spring", the background scene once again deals
with music making and dancing. Here, however, the dance appears to be more
frantic and a young woman has fainted in her chair. |
|
Johann Martin Metz & Caroline Metz:
Johann Martin Metz spent the first half of his career as
court painter to the Elector Clemens August, in Bonn. He was made a member
of the Guild at Cologne in 1768. Johann Metz settled permanently in London
in 1771 and distinguished himself as a painter of genre scenes and still
lifes. His daughter, Caroline Metz, came to London with her father. She
began exhibiting her paintings at the Royal Academy in 1773 and was a frequent
exhibitor there until 1794. Her art included portraits, landscapes and
still lifes. |
|
It is probable that both the father and daughter contributed
to the designs for this set of "The Seasons". |
Source: |
James Thomson's The Seasons |
Note: |
The Seasons: Winter,
"See Winter comes, to rule the varied year,
Sullen and sad, with all his rising train;
Vapours, and Clouds, and Storms. Be these my theme
These! that exalt the foul to solemn thought,
And heavenly musing. Welcome, kinred glooms!
Cogenial horrors, hail! with frequent foot,
Pleas'd have I, in my chearful morn of life,
When nurs'd by carless solitude I liv'd,
And sung of Nature with unceasing joy,
Pleas'd have I wander'd thro' your rough domain;
Trod the pure virgin-snows, myself as pure;
Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burst;
Or seen the deep fermenting tempest brew'd,
In the grim evening sky. Thus pass'd the time,
Til Thro' the lucid chambers of the south
Look'd out the joyous Spring, look'd out, and smil'd." * James
Thomson
|
Size: |
7 X 4 1/2 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.) |
|
Matted with 100% Archival Materials |
Buy Now |
Price: $785.00 US (A Set of Four Original Engravings) |
Condition: |
Each of the four engravings of "The Seasons" is printed upon late eighteenth century wove paper with margins extending about a quarter of an inch from the actual engravings on the top and the sides. Containing the title, "Winter", the engraver's name, "Neagle Sculpt", the designe's name, "Metz delt.", and. the publisher's address, "London, publd. Decr 1. 1792 by I. Murray No. 32 Fleet Street" along the bottom. Apart from very slight
foxing in the outer margins, all four engravings are in very good condition and represent a prime, original example of late eighteenth century British engraved art. |
Subject: |
John Neagle, The Seasons, "Spring", "Summer",
"Autumn", "Winter", A Set of Four Original Stipple and Line Engravings,
Johann Martin Metz and Caroline Metz, James Thomson (1700-1748), elements of seasonal change,
music making and dancing. |
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