Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall, Antique Morris Woodblock Print, circa 1870

Classical statues guard the garden walk in this antique print of Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall, printed in color by Benjamin Fawcett for Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, circa 1870. Composed as a formal garden view rather than a plain park approach, the country house plate shows a gravel walk running down between two white statues on stone pedestals, one seated and one standing.

Further urns and a circular flower bed are visible in the garden to the right. The castellated house, its corner turrets polygonal rather than square, occupies the middle distance, with a glazed, domed conservatory or orangery attached at the left of the main block. The lawn falls away in a gentle slope toward the house, with subtle variation in the green to suggest the contour of the ground, and a single large tree closes the composition at the left. The white statuary is held clean against the surrounding green while receiving enough gray shading to read as modeled stone.

This is a color woodblock print, or color wood engraving, printed from a series of separate blocks in register by Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, Yorkshire, one of the finest color woodblock printers of the Victorian period and printer of Morris's bird books. The series, A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, was edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893) and published in London by William Mackenzie; this plate is from an issue of circa 1870.

This antique print of Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall, circa 1870, is an original Victorian plate removed from the book, suitable for framing, and a natural choice for admirers of the house and collectors of English country house views. Margins are full and untrimmed, with the title Mount Edgcumbe set in small 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 a foxing stain in the right margin beside the image, 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.