Noce De Village [ Village Wedding] Original Antique Engraving By Charles-Melchior Descourtis

Paris 1785, 1785. Original Antique Engraving . Single Sheet. Very Good. 13" x 18. Original Antique Engraving Printed In Colors On Antique Paper, Plate Mark 11" X 15". Lettered Below At Left "Taunay Pinx", At Right "Descourtis Scupt", Below "Noce De Village" / "Tire Du Cabinet De Monsieur Godefroy" / Ancien Controleur General De La Marine", No Printer's Information Below. Variant Very Early Printing With Very Strong Lines And Monochromatic Sky. One Of A Series Of Four Images. Descourtis Was A Pupil Of Jean-François Janinet And, Like Him, Specialized In The Production Of Colour Prints Using Aquatint And Wash-Manner. Among His Earliest Known Works Is A Series Of Four Engravings Of Views Of Paris And Rome After Paintings By Pierre Antoine De Machy, Which Appeared In 1784. He Collaborated With Janinet On The Illustrations For Vues Remarquables Des Montagnes De La Suisse (1785), Which Were Engraved After Several Artists. He Is Best Known, However, For His Four Colour Prints After The Genre Scenes Of Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, Notably The Village Wedding (1785) And Its Pendant, The Village Fair (1788). The Subtle Green Tones Of The Landscape Setting, Complementing The White And Red Of The Small Figures, Successfully Convey The Gentle Mood Of Taunay's Rural Scenes. The Second Pair, The Tambourine And The Brawl, Both Animated, Slightly Grotesque Compositions, Are Less Finely Executed. Such Prints Of Genre Scenes Were Avidly Collected By Contemporaries. Descourtis Also Produced A Number Of Portrait Engravings, Including Princess Wilhelmina Of Prussia (1791). From The Later 1790S He Engraved Numerous Works After Jean-Frederic Schall, Notably The Lover Surprised And The Peeping Toms, As Well As A Series Of Illustrations To Bernardin De Saint-Pierre's Novel Paul Et Virginie (1788). (Source: Web Gallery Of Art).