German Engraved Iron Casket, Two Faces, Musée de Cluny, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in iron gray and black, lettered "A. COFFRET en fer gravé d'Allemagne, (XVIe SIÈCLE.) B. Seconde face du même Coffret. (Musée de Cluny, No 1669.) Grandeur de l'original: long. 25 cent. haut. 11 cent. larg. 10 cent. 1/2." The casket itself, lettered A, is shown below in perspective, a heavy rectangular box with a hinged lid and a handle at the side. Its front panel shows a haloed Christ reaching toward a small child, with a group of bearded, haloed figures approaching from the right. Above it, lettered B, the second face is drawn flat: an enthroned ruler holding a staff receives a haloed figure led forward by men in armor. Both scenes sit within borders of engraved scrolling foliage on a stippled ground.

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "FERRONNERIE PL. VI" (ironwork, plate 6). The credits are "H. Soltau del.", "Chromolith. Engelmann et Graf" and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot. In English the caption reads: A. Casket in engraved iron from Germany (sixteenth century). B. Second face of the same casket (Musée de Cluny, No. 1669). Size of the original: length 25 cm, height 11 cm, width 10.5 cm.

Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was edited by Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, with Ferdinand Séré directing the illustrations, and it was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. The work surveys the manners, customs, trade, industry, sciences and arts of Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and its chapters were illustrated with plates after objects in museums, churches and private collections of the day. This plate belongs to the fourth volume, issued in 1851.

With its lettering intact, the plate suits a plain mat and a simple frame, and it hangs well beside other plates from the same chapter.

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