PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING: I sell ORIGINAL items ONLY and NOT ANY reproductions.

This sale is for ONE

ANTiQUE GRAVURE PRiNT

 that is titled

 "The SiGN PAiNTER". 

    Print reads:

J. L. E. Meissonier , Pinx (lower left edge of image)

Gravure , Gebbie & Company (lower right edge of image).

Meissonier 1872  (lower right corner on the inside of the image).

Photogravure history:

George Gebbie, a lithographer, emigrated from Scotland in 1862 and eventually ended up in Philadelphia. In partnership with Frederick Keppel (1867), George Barrie (1873), and finally by himself (1880) he became the most important fine-art printer and publisher in Philadelphia. Gebbie extensively used the photogravure for both art prints and book illustrations. Early photogravure was developed in France and England in the 1820s, as a means to create photographic images on plates that could then be etched and used to make prints on paper with a traditional printing press. Photogravure in its mature form was developed in 1878 by Czech painter Karel Klí#, Because of its high quality and richness, registering a wide variety of tones, photogravure was used for both original fine art prints and for photo-reproduction of works from other media such as paintings. Gebbie died unexpectedly in 1892 and his daughter Mary Elizabeth ran the business until she died in childbirth a year later at the age of 24. The business was then taken over by his son George, who managed to bankrupt the company in 1907. (During the bankruptcy proceedings auditors discovered that George was using the company as a front to launder some 1.5 million USD of organized crime money.)

Condition: The print is in good condition. This print is approximately 17" X 12".