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ANONYMOUS
"The Flight into Egypt" & "The Return from Egypt" (A pair)
London: Published by John Fairburn, Map Chart & Printseller, No. 146 Minories, Feb. 16th, 1795. Mezzotints with thick early colour. Printed on later wove paper. Later impressions in good condition. [The Flight into Egypt] Trimmed just within the platemark on lower margin. A number of tiny tears along the outer margins. Backed on verso of sheet with conservation paper. Image size: 12 ¼ x 9 5/8 inches. Sheet size: 13 ¾ x 9 7/8 inches. [The Return from Egypt] Crease along lower right corner, and similar crease along upper right corner. A few tiny tears on outer margins. Image size: 12 ¼ x 9 5/8 inches. Platemark: 13 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches.
A charming pair of religious drolls, with handsome early colour, depicting the Holy Family's flight into Egypt.
The mezzotint droll is typically a humorous or satirical print produced by English printsellers during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Drolls were always produced in mezzotint and almost always created in a 10 x 14 inch format. Whether a print is considered to be droll is based on its medium and format rather than its content. Fancy pictures, portraits, religious scenes, and satires all fall under the droll classification and were often seen advertised together in contemporary print catalogues. The creation of the droll format as a marketing piece represents the cunning with which engravers and printsellers responded to a growing market for attractive affordable prints. The droll format allowed for a print to be both pleasing to the eye at the same time as being small enough to be conveniently handled. Drolls could fit easily into a print shop window or slip into a portfolio, and because of the choice of subjects they could just as easily decorate the walls of a tavern as they could adorn a kitchen. Drolls depicting religious scenes were often engraved as a pair or series, and became extremely popular at the close of the century. They typically depicted scenes from the Old Testament or from the life of Jesus, and were eagerly produced by printsellers across England. This handsome pair depicts the Holy Family's flight from Egypt and their joyful return. It is a superb example of English religious drolls and rare find with thick early colour.
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#15102 $1,200.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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