Melbury House, Dorset, Antique Morris Woodblock Print, circa 1870

A tall castellated tower rises left of center in this antique print of Melbury House, Dorset, printed in color by Benjamin Fawcett for Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, circa 1870. In this country house view the tower's tracery windows and battlemented top are the most elaborate passage of stonework on the sheet, standing clear of the ivy that covers much of the lower building.

A single-storey wing with a columned loggia extends to the left in bare pale stone, contrasting with the greener mass of the ivy-clad ranges beside it, and gabled bays with mullioned windows continue the roofline to the right. The sky is one of the warmer in the series, worked in bands of orange and gold cloud suggesting sunset, which sets off the pale stone of the tower and loggia while the ivy-covered walls sit in comparatively deep shadow. The ivy takes more than one green to achieve its mottled coverage, and the sky passes softly from gold near the horizon to cooler gray above.

The Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), best known for his History of British Birds, edited A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, published in London by William Mackenzie, with drawings largely by Alexander Francis Lydon, in an issue of circa 1870. Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, one of the great Victorian color woodblock printers, printed the plates from separate blocks in register, so the color here is printed, not hand colored.

As an original Victorian plate removed from the book, this antique print of Melbury House, Dorset, is suitable for framing and popular with admirers of the house, with lovers of Dorset, and with collectors of English country house views. Margins are full and untrimmed, with the title Melbury House 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, slight creasing at one of the binding holes, 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.