Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, Antique Morris Woodblock Print, circa 1870

Clipped yew topiary lines the drive in this antique print of Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, a color woodblock country house view from Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, printed by Benjamin Fawcett circa 1870. A straight gravel drive leads directly to a castellated entrance front whose central gabled porch carries a carved heraldic beast at its apex.

Corner towers with battlemented tops flank the main block, and a parish church tower is visible among trees at the left, setting the house within its village surroundings. The topiary is set in matched pairs along either side of the drive, cones and rounded globes of dark yew worked in a dense, almost black-green that contrasts sharply with the lighter lawn; Elvaston's gardens were known for precisely this kind of elaborate clipped planting, and the print gives it real prominence. The stonework is kept to a cool gray-buff, so the dark topiary and the warmer red-brown of the drive read clearly against it.

The plate comes from A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), the naturalist and clergyman best known for his History of British Birds, and published in London by William Mackenzie; this issue dates from circa 1870. Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, Yorkshire, one of the finest Victorian color woodblock printers, printed it from a series of separate blocks in register, so the color is printed, not hand colored.

An original Victorian plate removed from the book, this antique print of Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, is suitable for framing and will appeal to admirers of the house, of Derbyshire, and of English country house views. The sheet retains generous margins, with the title Elvaston Castle lettered in small capitals below the image.

This antique print is in good condition for its age. The paper shows light toning consistent with age, together with a few small spots in the margins and a line of binding holes along the lower edge, where the plate was once bound into the book. Please review the images for further condition details.

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