Complete Suite Of Eight Prints - Goats And Rams After Paulus Potter - By Petrus Schenk

A complete set of eight prints depicting goats and rams in landscapes, after Paulus Potter (1625–1654). Each horizontal print (approximately 15 x 12 cm) presents a solitary animal or one accompanied by a kid, placed in a simple landscape: stony ground, embankments, trees, and an open horizon. The frame is engraved with a fine line. The composition allows ample space around the subjects, highlighting the anatomical study and the rendering of the coat. The animals are treated with remarkable naturalism: twisted horns, detailed beards, and hair rendered with a tight network of fine lines. Shadows are achieved through cross-hatching, typical of late 17th-century Dutch engraving. Some prints show the animal at rest, others standing or in slight motion; one depicts a goat nursing her kid. The set constitutes a truly varied study of the goat, faithful to Potter's spirit of observation. The inscriptions engraved in the plate, on the left in the image field, indicate: Potter inv. M. de Bye (or de Byl) fec. N. Visscher excud. No. 9. In the lower right margin is the added address: P. Schenk Junior excud. The set is complete with eight plates. From Paulus Potter's model to the Schenk edition: Paulus Potter, a major figure of the Dutch Golden Age, died prematurely in 1654. He is famous for his animal scenes and studies of individual animals, particularly cattle and goats. His direct observation of living creatures and his attention to textures made him a particularly popular model for engravers and print publishers. After his death, several of his compositions were engraved for distribution. The plates in this series were engraved by M. de Bye (or de Byl), after designs by Potter (“inv.” meaning invenit, that is, “conceived”). They were first published in Amsterdam by Nicolaes Visscher (active in the mid- and late 17th century), as indicated by the address “N. Visscher excud.” embedded in the image. At the turn of the 18th century, the plates passed into the collection of the Schenk family, an important dynasty of publishers and print dealers in Amsterdam. The address “P. Schenk Junior exc.” The inscription engraved in the lower margin corresponds to a reissue by Petrus Schenk II, active mainly from the years 1715–1720. The coexistence of the Visscher address in the image and that of Schenk Junior in the margin testifies to a later state of the plate: the coppers originally published by Visscher were reused and put back on the market in the first third of the 18th century. The present copy corresponds to this early Schenk print, datable to around 1720–1735. Bibliography and references: – Hollstein, FWH, Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700 (volume devoted to Paulus Potter and associated engravers). – Le Blanc, Charles, Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, Paris, 1854–1890. – Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler (articles Potter, Visscher, Schenk). – Bénézit, Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs.