Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire, Antique Morris Woodblock Print, circa 1870

A giant portico commands this antique print of Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire, one of the grandest houses in Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, printed in color by Benjamin Fawcett circa 1870. The country house is framed between two groups of tall trees, their trunks and canopies built up in careful, varied greens that leave the eye to travel down the central gap to the house.

The garden front's columns and pediment are rendered in a pale stone tone, with lower colonnaded wings extending to either side and a flight of steps descending toward the lawn. A small group of deer, some standing and some lying in the grass, occupies the foreground, and a narrow strip of still, reflective water shows at the left edge. The sky is worked in warm cloud suggesting late afternoon light, consistent with the golden tone of the stonework, and the long colonnades call for fine, repeated vertical lines carried cleanly through the superimposed color blocks.

The plate comes from A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), the naturalist and clergyman best known for his History of British Birds, and published in London by William Mackenzie; this issue dates from circa 1870. Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, Yorkshire, one of the finest Victorian color woodblock printers, printed it from a series of separate blocks in register, so the color is printed, not hand colored.

An original Victorian plate removed from the book, this antique print of Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire, is suitable for framing and will appeal to admirers of the house, of Buckinghamshire, and of English country house views. Margins are wide and untrimmed, with the title Stowe Park set in small capitals beneath 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 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.