LONDON, HYDE PARK CRYSTAL PALACE GREAT EXHIBITION ~ Old 1851 Art Print Engraving

Description: HYDE PARK IN 1851 Artist: J. D. Harding ____________ Engraver: J. B. Allen Note: the title in the table above is printed below the engraving CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE 19th CENTURY ANTIQUE PRINTS LIKE THIS ONE!! PRINT DATE: This lithograph was printed in 1856; it is not a modern reproduction in any way. PRINT SIZE: Overall print size is 8 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches including white borders, actual scene is 6 inches by 11 inches. PRINT CONDITION: Condition is excellent. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. Paper is quality woven rag stock paper. SHIPPING: Buyer to pay shipping, domestic orders receives priority mail, international orders receive regular air mail unless otherwise asked for. We take a variety of payment options, more payment details will be in our email after auction close. We pack properly to protect your item! FROM THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: It was a perfectly natural desire on the part of the Queen to possess sonic pictorial record of the great "Peace Congress," as it has not inaptly been called, which London witnessed in 1851, and which owed so much of its success to the influence of her Majesty, and the exertions of her illustrious Consort. The "Exhibition of all Nations" called into action a host of artists of all kinds, who illustrated it internally and externally in all its variety of details, and in every possible mode of treatment; and doubtless I a considerable number of these pictorial works found their way into the presence of royalty; but the I Queen wished to have a picture painted expressly for herself-one that should be commemorative of the event, and yet not too circumstantial in its character-a picture of the locality and its visitors rather than a portrait-like representation of the building which- " - Like a wondrous vision rose Where the green turf luxuriant grows, And stately elm-trees nod; Where, in the pleasant months of Spring, Through the tall boughs young voices ring, And over the verdant sod, Mingled with roll of chariot-wheels, And tramp of horses' iron heels. " It stood all glittering in the day; No pile of marble, stone, or clay, As palaces are reared; But a vast edifice of glass, Through which the merry sunbeams pass; Arched roof and walls appeared As if some hand with magic strong Had stretched those crystal aisles along. " And thither from remotest bound Of the ' wide earth's encircling round,' Came men of every clime, Laden with all that mind conceives, Or human industry achieves, Or science holds sublime; From east to west, from south to north, Their tributary gifts poured forth." Mr. Harding received the royal commands for the picture just as the doors of the Crystal Palace were about to be closed to the public. The honor could not have been conferred upon one better qualified for the task; and yet, with a recollection how often the subject had already been the theme of the pencil, he must have felt the difficulty of imparting to it anything of an original and novel treatment. But this artist is never out of his element where green sward and waving trees are to be the chief ingredients of his picture, and Hyde Park supplies full materials of this description. The view of the " Palace" is taken from the western end of the park, where the trees are larger and more picturesquely situated than at ' the opposite end. We see comparatively little of the building; it is almost entirely screened by the continuous masses of foliage, under which groups of visitors, native and foreign, rest and regale themselves, giving a Watteau-like character to the picture. The drawing and disposition of his figures are, as was remarked in the biographical sketch of Harding in the Art-Journal of last month) qualities of excellence which must always excite attention in the works of this artist. He knows where to place them so that they shall constitute a pleasing as well as, in an artistic view, a necessary part of the composition. They never seem introduced for any other purpose than because they ought to be there as an integral portion of the work, and they arc always so circumstanced, in action and costume, as to appear so. The picture is in the collection at Buckingham Palace. It illustrates, with reference to the time when, and the circumstances under which, it was painted, almost the closing scene of that great drama which, during so many previous months, had engaged the attention of every civilized people in the world, either as actors or spectators, or both. The first "Crystal Palace," having fulfilled its purpose of en- lightening the nations in the Arts of peace, and of engaging them in honorable and peaceful rivalry, has been leveled to the ground, but only like the second Temple at Jerusalem, to rise again in greater splendor; and, with more varied attractions than the first offered, it has now become one of the wonders of the modern world. BIOGRAPHY OF ARTIST: James Duffield Harding, (1798-1863) was an English landscape painter, was the son of an artist, and took to the same vocation at an early age, although he had originally been destined for the law. He was in the main a watercolour painter and a lithographer, but he produced various oil-paintings both at the beginning and towards the end of his career. He frequently contributed to the exhibitions of the Water-Colour Society, of which he became an associate in 1821, and a full member in 1822. He was also very largely engaged in teaching, and published several books developing his views of art-amongst others, The Tourist in Italy (1831); The Tourist in France (1834); The Park and the Forest (1841); The Principles and the Practice of Art (1845); Elementary Art (1846); Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views (1847); Lessons on Art (1849). He died at Barnes on the 4th of December 1863. Harding was noted for facility, sureness of hand, nicety of touch, and the various qualities which go to make up an elegant, highly trained, and accomplished sketcher from nature, and composer of picturesque landscape material; he was particularly skilfull in the treatment of foliage. Please note: the terms used in our auctions for engraving, etching, lithograph, plate, photogravure etc. are ALL prints on paper, and NOT blocks of steel or wood or any other material. "ENGRAVINGS", the term commonly used for these paper prints, were the most common method in the 1700s and 1800s for illustrating old books, and these paper prints or "engravings" were created by the intaglio process of etching the negative of the image into a block of steel, copper, wood etc, and then when inked and pressed onto paper, a print image was created. These prints or engravings were usually inserted into books, although many were also printed and issued as loose stand alone lithographs. They often had a tissue guard or onion skin frontis to protect them from transferring their ink to the opposite page and were usually on much thicker quality woven rag stock paper than the regular prints. So this auction is for an antique paper print(s), probably from an old book, of very high quality and usually on very thick rag stock paper. A RARE FIND! AND GREAT DECORATION FOR YOUR OFFICE OR HOME WALL.

Price: 11.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-08-28T23:21:58.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.5 USD