La Pompe Notre-Dame

Date: 1852
Medium: Etching and drypoint
Dimensions: 150 x 191 mm. 5 7/8 x 7 1/2 in.
References: Delteil-Wright 25, first of seven states; Schneiderman 28, undescribed proof between second and third state of seven, before the drypoint shading on the left and lower part of the large cloud, but after the shading on the left side of the arch; apparently unique.
Signature: Signed in the plate "C. Meryon" lower left
Watermark: Partial fleur-de-lys
Provenance: Private collection, New York 
Impression: Very fine, delicate impression showing every nuance.
Condition: Good apart from slight light staining, upper left corner of the sheet missing (less than 1/4 in.), rippling from old hinges at upper left and right, and small graphite notation in lower left, “1er Etat B. 39 [three indecipherable vertical lines] / impression [indecipherable] avant toutes les lettres. m. B.; in lower right. “8/1/1 (?) / B. 39” in the wide, 1 1/4 in. margins. Other graphite notations including, “Haden” on verso.