Lion Head Door Knockers, Lüneburg and Hamburg, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in green metal tones over red, lettered "1. Au Couvent de Lune (1374). 2. A l'Eglise St Pierre, aujourd'hui détruite, Hambourg (1342.) 3. A la porte d'une maison de Lunebourg, Hanôvre (1568.)" Three circular door knockers are stacked down the right of the page, each centered on a lion mask, the top one holding a ring in its jaws, and each is repeated in side view at the left, where the head projects from its mount. The top roundel, numbered 1, frames the mask with pierced scrolls. The largest, numbered 2, has a lettered inscription running around its rim and a ground of leafy rosettes. The lowest, numbered 3, shows a maned lion among vines and bunches of grapes.

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "OBJETS DIVERS" (miscellaneous objects). The credits are "H. Soltau del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier à Paris" and "Regamey lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot. In English the caption reads: 1. At the convent of Lüne (1374). 2. At the church of St. Peter, now destroyed, Hamburg (1342). 3. On the door of a house in Lüneburg, Hanover (1568). The caption does not name the metal.

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.