Tree of Jesse House, Joigny, Antique Steel Engraving after L.J. Wood, circa 1877

A tall half-timbered house with steep gables and overhanging upper stories stands on a street corner in this upright steel engraving. Its corner post is carved from ground to roof with a winding vine-like trunk, and a statue of the Virgin and Child stands in a niche on the upper floor. Shop signs hang above the ground-floor windows, and townsfolk gather in front: women in white caps talk at the doorways, a mother leads a child, and at the right a market stall with an awning is hung with cloth. Smoke rises from the chimneys into a cloudy sky.

The plate is lettered "House of the Tree of Jesse, Joigny." Joigny is an old town on the Yonne in Burgundy, known for its timber-framed houses, and this one takes its name from the carved Tree of Jesse, the genealogy of Christ, that climbs its corner post. The drawing is credited to L.J. Wood and the engraving to J.J. Crew, and the imprint beneath the title is that of Cassell, Petter & Galpin of London.

The technique is steel engraving, printed in black on wove paper and uncolored. Crew's work brings out the grain of the old timbers, the sag of the roof and the plaster between the beams, and the small figures in the street are drawn with character.

Charming and full of detail, it would be at home in a kitchen, a cozy sitting room or a hallway, framed in rustic oak or black with a soft white mat.

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