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Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.
Two Spanish Cavalrymen in Crested Helmet and Bearskin Cap, Villegas, 1861
$410
€365 · £310
Original print, not a reproduction.
Ships worldwide from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked. 14-day returns.
- Date
- 1861
- Technique
- Tinted lithograph
- Coloring
- Hand colored
- Condition
- Good. Good condition for its age. Mounted on a cloth covered board. Light toning to the sheet with a few faint spots. Please review the images for further condition details.
- Wardrobe
- Menswear
- Era
- 1840 to 1870, Crinoline
- Stock no.
- BG-14341-3
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
An original hand colored lithograph of two Spanish cavalrymen facing each other with drawn sabers, drawn and lithographed by Villegas and printed by the Litografía Militar in Madrid for the Album de la Caballería Española of 1861. The lower margin is lettered "Villegas dibujó y litografió." at left and "Lit. Militar S. Bernardino 7. Madrid." at right, and the artist's signature appears again in the stone at lower left.
On the left a rider on a gray horse wears a green coat with yellow facings and a black crested helmet with a tall yellow plume, his saber raised at the slope. On the right a mustached trooper on a brown horse wears a tall black bearskin cap with a red plume, a blue coat with red collar and gold epaulettes, white breeches and high black boots, and holds his saber forward. Both horses carry red bordered shabraques and holster covers, and the two figures stand on open sandy ground under a pale sky, framed by a ruled border with rounded corners.
The plate belongs to the Album de la Caballería Española, the illustrated history of the Spanish cavalry compiled by Serafín María de Sotto, Count of Clonard, and published in Madrid in 1861. The album follows the mounted arm of Spain from its early history to the reign of Isabel II, and its plates show the dress, arms and horse furniture of each period, so that a single sheet is at once a costume study, a military record and an equestrian picture.
The image was drawn on the stone over a buff tint, and the uniforms, saddlery and ground were then colored by hand in watercolor, which gives the reds, greens and blues their depth and leaves the white highlights of the tint showing through. Spanish costume plates of this quality are much scarcer than their French and German counterparts, and the strong color and lively horses make the sheet as decorative as it is informative. It would suit a study, library or dining room, alone or with other plates from the album.
Condition: Good condition for its age. Mounted on a cloth covered board. Light toning to the sheet with a few faint spots. Please review the images for further condition details.
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.
