Jean Le Pautre (1673) – Original or Copy?

I just bought two big engravings for the first time. 100€ for 2 pieces.

It turns out they were created in 1673 by the renowned French engraver Jean Le Pautre (1618–1682), whose works are exhibited at the Prado Museum.

The engraving states it was made in 1673 and has a signature.


Here’s a link to the engraving:
https://static-prod.lib.princeton.edu/versailles/item/864/index.html


I found out that this engraving is part of the series “Description de la Grotte de Versailles”(“Description of the Grotto of Versailles”), created by order of King Louis XIV to commemorate the lavish interiors and garden structures of the Palace of Versailles.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t this be worth €1,000?!

I don’t understand—do I have a copy of a museum piece or an actual museum piece? Another one is also in the National Library of France…

 

Would/could you post photographs of the backs please? And where (from what type of establishment) did you buy them and what were you told about them?

Debora

 

I bought them early in the morning at an antique market in Barcelona. There, companies clear out apartments and bring everything to sell. Moroccan sellers buy entire lots in the morning and resell them throughout the day (naturally, they know nothing about the items and just name prices at random).


This particular lot had many Neoclassical pieces, so I took these engravings.

 

When I get home I will publish a photo from behind, but there is a regular wooden plate, light and modern. It is clear that the frame is not antique but vintage.

 

1000 euros is a lot of money. Unless you can find others that sold for that much you shouldn't get your hopes up. The fact that something is in a museum or national collection is no guarantee that it's worth a lot of money. Criteria for such collections is not entirely dependent on price. I can't tell if yours are of the period or not. If they are, they should be on laid paper (if you know how to identify that).

 

Frames appear to be 1980s.

Debora

 

Why don't you contact an auction house? Bonham's, for instance, does free online estimates. So does Durán out of Madrid. You should take them out of their frames first and examine them. Especially the paper as suggested above.

https://www.bonhams.com/location/BAR/barcelona/

https://www.duran-subastas.com/en/page/valuations

Debora