Le Matin - Der Morgen

Mezzotint Engraving by Johann Jacob Haid after Charles Eisen

Beautiful original 18th Century genre engraving of a woman being pampered during her morning toilette.

Artist: Charles Dominique Eisen (1720-1778), was a well known 18th Century genre painter whose charming and amusing works captured the eye of Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV. Eisen became Mdm de Pompadour's personal drawing instructor, and also a court painter and professor at the Acadèmie de Saint-Luc.

Engraver: Johann Jakob Haid

(German, 1704-1767) 

a student of Ridinger, Haid was the founder of a famous Augsburg publishing house carried on by his sons. He was a master of the Mezzotint, one of the most difficult forms of print making.

Mezzotint: To create a mezzotint, the artist prepares a copper plate by "rockeing" its the entire surface repeatedly with a curved, notched blade until is is entirely entirely pitted or raised. At this stage, the plate has an almost sponge like character and would print a rich velvety black. To create the image, the artist then uses a scraper or burnisher to flatten the raised parts of the rough service. This is done lightly for to create darker shades, or until it is smooth (and doesn't absorb ink) to create white areas.

Dimensions: 28 X 41 cm

Condition: The sheet has been cut inside the plate mark and mounted against a second sheet of old paper. Otherwise nice and clean with beautiful colors.

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