Antique The Tinker Goupil Photogravure after Alphonse Legros, 1880

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An elderly tinker sits on the ground at the edge of a wood, absorbed in his work. Bent forward in … Read more An elderly tinker sits on the ground at the edge of a wood, absorbed in his work. Bent forward in a white shirt with rolled sleeves and a long leather apron, he holds a hammer and a small tool against the rim of a copper pan braced across his knee. Beside him a small brazier on a tripod sends up a thin plume of smoke, and around him lie the vessels waiting for repair: a large overturned copper cauldron with its handle, a tall pot with a lid and a small lidded jug, with a cloth bundle at his feet. Behind him rise the trunks of tall trees, and to the right the land opens to a soft distance with the roof of a house half hidden in the haze. The print reproduces "The Tinker," painted in 1874 by Alphonse Legros, a French painter and etcher who settled in England in 1863 and became an influential teacher at the Slade School in London. The painting, a sober and sympathetic image of rural labor, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The sheet is lettered "Peint par Alpse Legros" at lower left and "Photogravure & Imp. Goupil & Cie" at lower right: the plate was made and printed by Goupil and Company of Paris, the foremost publisher of reproductions after contemporary paintings in the later nineteenth century. This is a photogravure, a photomechanical intaglio process in which the image is etched into a copper plate from a photograph and printed in ink like an etching. It gives continuous, velvety tones, and here it preserves the texture of Legros's brushwork and the warm sheen of the copper vessels. A fine choice for a workshop, a kitchen with copper pans on display, or a study, framed in dark wood or aged brass. Condition: Light wear to the top left corner. Light age toning; light handling soiling along the edges and a few small spots in the margins. Printed image clean. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less