Schenk View of Goa, Great Trading City of Portuguese India, 1702

An original antique copper engraving of the city of Goa in Portuguese India, seen from across the water at the mouth of the river lettered on the plate as Gacis. The city rises in a long line of churches, convents and tiled roofs along the far bank, towers and a dome breaking the skyline, and the whole view is set inside an engraved ornamental border of scrollwork. Outside that border palms lean over the water in the foreground and small figures stand on the near shore, with shipping riding at anchor between them and the city. The caption is given in Dutch and Latin, "GOA. Een vermaerde koopstad in het Portugals Indie" and "GOA, olim Gacis fluvio incumbens". Pieter Schenk signs the plate at the lower left.

The plate is signed "Pet. Schenk." at the lower left and "Amstel. C.P." at the lower right, and is numbered 71 in the published sequence. It is an original copper engraving from Pieter Schenk's "Hecatompolis, sive Totius orbis Terrarum Oppida Nobiliora Centum", published at Amsterdam in 1702: a suite of one hundred views of the most notable cities of the world, each set within an engraved ornamental border. Schenk, a German-born engraver and publisher who worked in Amsterdam, was one of the leading print publishers of that city in his day. The impression carries hand coloring, with the palms, the water and the figures in the foreground washed in watercolor over the engraved line.

Goa was the capital of the Portuguese Estado da India and for a century the richest European city in Asia, known in Europe as golden Goa; by the time Schenk engraved it, plague and the shifting of trade had already begun to empty the old town, which is now the ruin field and churches of Old Goa. The "Hecatompolis" was a suite of one hundred views of the great trading cities of the world, and its Asian subjects are the ones collectors look for first. The decorative engraved border makes this an easy print to frame simply, and it needs no wide mount to look finished; it hangs well with other city views in a library or an office.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

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