Name: ANONYMOUS NETHERLANDISH (17TH CENTURY)
Brand: A beached Sperm Whale on 28 December 1614 at Noordwijk, visited by Prince Maurits of Orange and his Entourage
Price: 1700.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

ANONYMOUS NETHERLANDISH (17TH CENTURY)
A beached Sperm Whale on 28 December 1614 at Noordwijk, visited by Prince Maurits of Orange and his Entourage
engraving
1615
on laid paper, watermark Basel Crozier (similar to Heawood 1183, England, early 17th Century)
a fine, rich impression of this large, rare print
with small margins
some tears and losses, mainly along the central crease and outside the subject
Plate 375 x 537 mm.
Sheet 391 x 550 mm.

I. Faust, Zoologische Einblattdrucke und Flugschriften vor 1800, Band IV: Wale, Sirenen, Elefanten, Stuttgart, 2002, p. 72-73, no. 550 (another impression illustrated).

Please note that the starting bid on this lot has been lowered.

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Lot Essay

This large engraving is one of several prints recording some rare instances of large whales being found stranded on the Dutch coast. For another, slightly earlier example see the engraving by Jan Saenredam depicting a beached sperm whale at Beverwijk in 1601 (Hollstein 121). The present, large anonymous print documents the visit of Prince Maurits of Orange and his entourage on 28 December 1614 to see another sperm whale on the beach at Noordwijk. It is very rare and we have only been able to find one other impression, at the Fondation Custodia/ Collection Frits Lugt in Paris (inv. no. 1974-P.1).