Set of Six Framed Böckler Baroque Fountain Engravings, 1664

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A striking set of six original 17th-century engravings of fantastical Baroque fountains — real 1664 copperplate prints, not reproductions — … Read more A striking set of six original 17th-century engravings of fantastical Baroque fountains — real 1664 copperplate prints, not reproductions — framed and matted individually in distressed black and parcel-gilt frames, ready to hang as a group. The designs are wonderfully graphic: slender fountains throwing starburst sprays, a pierced star, tiered cascading bowls, and a pair of surreal outstretched "glove" hand-jets, all in crisp black line on warm-toned antique laid paper. Hung together as a grid of six, they make an instant statement wall; split into pairs, they work over a console, in a powder room, or up a staircase.

These come from Georg Andreas Böckler's Architectura Curiosa Nova, the most famous Baroque treatise on garden fountains, published in Nuremberg in 1664 — the black-and-white plates have a clean, almost modern sensibility that sits as easily in a contemporary interior as a traditional one. The uniform framing makes them a true set, far harder to find than loose prints, and the neutral palette goes with everything.

(Ref: NY10378-crrr) See less