The Forces of France

Date: ca. 1627
Medium: Etching on laid paper
Dimensions: Plate: 172 x 399 mm. 6 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. Sheet: 197 x 407 mm. 7 3/4 x 16 in.
Reference: Blum 921, only state; Agnes’s & David Tunick, Inc, Fine Prints from Six Centuries, no. 11
Annotation: “Mariette excu cum privilege” bottom
Watermark: Bunch of grapes with initials AC similar to Briquet 13197 (Provence, 1590) and Briquet 13209 (Provence, 1599)
Provenance: Fritz Rumpf (b. ca. 1855, Potsdam), Lugt 2161; Probably sold via H. G. Gutekunst (Stuttgart), May 18-23, 1909; Paul Davidsohn (b. 1839, Berlin), Lugt 654 and Supplement; to his sale C. G. Boerner (Leipzig) on May 3-8, 1920, lot 745; Friedrich Quiring (b. 1886, Eberswalde, near Berlin), Lugt 1041c; Galerie Lecomte (Paris); 1975 to David Tunick, Inc.
Impression: Dark, rich
Condition: A few vertical and handling creases, some barely visible spots, the number "4" in pen-and-ink in an old hand top right corner beyond the platemark, remnants of hinges verso, reasonable margins all around