Rare Antique Engraving, Valparaíso, Chile Harbor and City Scene, 1867

The harbor and city of Valparaíso, Chile, an original steel engraving printed in Paris in the 1860s. The plate is lettered "Valparaiso", engraved by Ed. Willmann and printed by Chardon, and belongs to a series of Latin American city views published around 1867.

The view looks across the bay from a hillside path, where a man leads a pack animal and a second figure stands beside a group of tall palms. Below, low houses with sheds and gardens lead down to the waterfront, and the town stretches along the shore beyond, with church towers and warehouses along the quay. Many sailing ships and steamers fill the anchorage, and forts and hills close the bay at the right.

Valparaíso was a major Pacific port, a stopping place for ships rounding Cape Horn and a gateway for trade and immigration along the coast of South America.