Badminton House, Gloucestershire, Antique Morris Woodblock Print, circa 1870

Deer gather at the water's edge in this antique print of Badminton House, Gloucestershire, printed in color by Benjamin Fawcett for Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, circa 1870. The long cream stone front of this country house, its center marked by a pediment and a pair of domed cupolas above the roofline, is set across a curving stretch of ornamental water that fills most of the foreground.

A standing buck and several recumbent deer are grouped below the house, rendered in warm brown and white against the green bank. The house reads as a low, extended composition, two end pavilions linked to the center block by lower wings and gate screens, all in a restrained cream and gray palette that lets the darker water and the massed trees at either margin carry the visual weight. The sky is heavily worked in soft gray-white cloud with a narrow strip of blue, and the reflection in the lake is kept a shade darker and less distinct than the house above it.

William Mackenzie of London published A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland from the 1860s to the 1880s, edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), the clergyman and naturalist of History of British Birds fame; this plate is from an issue of circa 1870. Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, among the finest color woodblock printers of the Victorian period, printed each color from its own block in register; the color is printed rather than applied by hand.

This antique print of Badminton House, Gloucestershire, is an original Victorian plate removed from the book, ready for framing, and a fine choice for owners and admirers of the house or collectors of English country house views. The sheet has full margins, with the title Badminton House set in spaced capitals beneath the image.

This antique print is in fair to good condition for its age. The paper shows light toning consistent with age, together with foxing stains in the upper margin and upper left corner, a few small spots and small nicks along the lower edge. Please review the images for further condition details.

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