Hi, I recently purchased a reproduction of Ariadne by Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727 - 1785). It’s around 8” x 6”. 1 by Andy Shield posted Jan 6, 2018 at 7:49 PM 2 by Andy Shield posted Jan 6, 2018 at 7:49 PM It appears to be based on this etching from 1782. http://www.britishmuseum.org/resear...object_details.aspx?objectId=3177112&partId=1 The frame dates to c.1890 - c.1920 and it’s from Hamptons & Sons in Pall Mall East. As you can see, it’s been trimmed to fit the frame. I’m guessing that this isn’t an original litho, so what could it be? Maybe a page of a book printed on a Victorian rotary press? The paper is flat with no indentations. Really appreciate any help.
How do you know yours isn't original? Bartolozzi prints aren't that hard to come by. The BM copy is "proof before title". Yours has the title. It seems about the same size. The trimming on yours might lie just inside the plate mark. (That was fairly common practice with old prints.) Is there printing on the back of the sheet? Is there a watermark? What kind of paper is it printed on: laid, or wove? You could search other Bartolozzi prints to see what kind of paper they are printed on. I don't know that it is original, but there are questions to be asked.
Thanks for your thoughts on this, maybe it could be. I thought the trimming was a little odd for an original but after some further research, there are plenty of Bartolozzi prints that are trimmed in the same way. It looks very similar to other original prints (I’ve uploaded an example). It’s on wove which is also common for Bartolozzi it seems. I’m starting to think it could be a stipple engraving. As you say, these are very common, which I didn’t realise.
