Ruins near the Lake of Myus or Baffi in Caria, Antique Engraving, 1797

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, published in 1797. The caption engraved below the image reads "Ruins near the Lake of Myüs, or Baffi."

A broad, still lake fills the lower half of the view, reflecting the hills along its far shore. On the left, rocky slopes rise to a jagged ridge, with a square ruined building standing on a height and other ruins and trees scattered along the shore below it. On the far right, the remains of a tower and walls stand on a distant point. In the left foreground, beside a bank of flowering shrubs, a small boat lies at the water's edge. A man in a turban sits in it smoking a long pipe, while a boatman stands in the boat pushing off with a long pole. Long streaks of cloud cross the sky.

The lower left is lettered "Pars Delint." and the lower right "Byrne Sculpt.", naming the painter William Pars and the engraver William Byrne. The plate number "PL. XXXIII." is engraved at the upper right.

This plate was issued in Antiquities of Ionia, Part the Second, published by the Society of Dilettanti in London in 1797. William Pars (1742 to 1782) was the English painter of the Society's expedition to Ionia. The lake is today Lake Bafa in southwestern Turkey, cut off from the sea when silt from the Meander closed the ancient Latmian Gulf.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and right edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the bottom.

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