Antique View of a Chinese Temple Complex and Pagoda by Sanquirico, 1815

This is an original hand colored copper engraving, dated 1815, from Giulio Ferrario's Le Costume Ancien et Moderne (ancient and modern costume), showing a walled Chinese temple compound with pagodas. The plate has no engraved title or caption.

A long boundary wall crosses the plate, with a single gateway under a small tiled roof toward the right, where a figure in a blue robe stands in the opening. Outside the wall a man in red leads a laden horse along a track, and a clump of shrubs and rocks fills the lower left corner. Behind the wall rise the buildings of the compound: at the left a two story house with green roofs and a railed upper gallery, behind it a seven story pagoda with upswept eaves, then ranges of buildings with blue roofs. At the center a smaller round tiered tower stands above a long colonnaded hall, and at the right a square pavilion with a green double roof. A small spire and a dome show in the far distance.

The plate number "84." is engraved at the upper right above the border. Below the border the engraver signed at the lower left, "G. Zancon inc.", and the designer at the lower right, "A. Sanquirico dise." A small round blind stamp with a monogram is pressed at the lower right corner of the plate mark, and an oval blind stamp sits in the bottom margin.

The plate comes from Le Costume Ancien et Moderne by Giulio Ferrario (1767 to 1847), a Milanese scholar and publisher. The work was a multi-volume illustrated survey of the customs of the peoples of the world, issued in parts in Italian and in French. The part wrapper issued with these plates closes with the imprint "MILAN, DE L'IMPRIMERIE DE L'EDITEUR, MDCCCXV" (Milan, from the publisher's press, 1815).

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and right edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the top left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the top.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.