This auction is for one Original Etching of the St Giles Cathedral, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh Scotland by William Walcot.
The image is on hand-made paper and comes unframed. The original crude matting, frame and glass are available, but it should be known that the original purchaser appears to have bought the original piece as a keepsake souvenir. The original simple paper matting actually covered the pencil signature and print edge emboss.
Interestingly what started as a quick mat and frame did a wonderful job of preserving the original handmade paper and maker's indicia
The piece is in good bright condition with some light age toning and tape residue in both upper corners over from previous framing that does not affect the image (see photos).
This is a beautiful and very rare print by this artist and will be a welcome addition to any collection.
Please ask as many questions as you like using the eBay communications channels and check our other listings for more beautifully designed art and objects. Thank you.
Shipped with USPS Tube Media Mailer unframed If you request the original frame and glass the shipping price will be substantially higher and if the glass breaks in transit the print may be irreparably damaged - Buyers choice
This is another special find from the Bertram Roland Backstrom Collection Which included over 25 pieces of Karen Karnes pottery. Four more pieces will be added to eBay this week
Bert purchased over forty pieces from Karen over the years and they became great friends. Recent discoveries from Mr. Backstrom’s estate keep turning over many unseen works. Keep checking in with this seller for more wonderful representations of her beautiful work.
From the Internet:Via EtsySorry, this item is unavailable.from Iconic Design Scotland5 out of 5 stars (785)785 reviewsLISTED ARTIST. William Walcot (1874 - 1943)St Giles Cathedral, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Pencil Signed$420.41
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaWilliam Walcothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_WalcotBorn 10 March 1874 Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)Died 21 May 1943 (aged 69) Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, UKNationality United KingdomOccupation ArchitectBuildings Metropol Hotel, Gutheil and Yakunchikova mansions (all in Moscow, Russia)
William Walcot RE (10 March 1874 – 21 May 1943) was a Scottish architect, graphic artist and etcher, notable as a practitioner of refined Art Nouveau (Style Moderne) in Moscow, Russia (as Вильям Францевич Валькот). His trademark Lady's Head keystone ornament became the easily recognisable symbol of Russian Style Moderne. In 1920s–1930s, he concentrated on graphic art and was praised as the best architectural draftsman in London.
RussiaWilliam Walcot was born at Lustdorf, near Odessa in a mixed Scottish-Russian family. He grew up in Western Europe and South Africa, returning to Russia at the age of 17, and studied arts and architecture under Leon Benois at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. Later, he attended art schools in Paris. Walcot's career as an architect in Moscow lasted only six years, but he managed to leave a lasting heritage of refined, pure Art Nouveau. Unlike contemporary architects like Fyodor Schechtel, Walcot never ventured into Neo-Gothic or Russian Revival styles – his work is strictly Art Nouveau, in its English Decadent variety (according to contemporary Russian critics).
Hotel MetropolHis largest and best known work was the Hotel Metropol in Moscow, financed by Savva Mamontov. The spacious building, now operating as a hotel only, was conceived as a cultural center around Private Opera hall. In 1899, Walcot applied to the open contest with a draft codenamed A Lady's Head (Женская головка), earning the fourth prize and losing to Lev Kekushev. However, Mamontov discarded the professional jury decision, and awarded the design to Walcot (Lev Kekushev later joined the team as project manager). More than once, Walcot's original plans were changed in the process; in fact, there is little in common between the extant building and his 1899 draft (Brumfield, fig.56) – but the Lady's Head persisted in the main hall ornaments. The building, completed in 1905 after a devastating fire in 1901, was decorated by Mikhail Vrubel, Alexander Golovin, Nikolai Andreev and other artists. Participation of Victor Vesnin and Fyodor Schechtel, suggested by William Brumfield, has not been confirmed.
Lady's Head became Walcot's trademark, repeated in his later works (usually in place of an arch keystone), and frequently imitated by local craftsmen. For a while, he enjoyed an unprecedented flow of inquiries and secured two high-profile commissions of his own choice. These buildings, soon occupied by foreign embassies, are well maintained and retain most of their original interiors:
Walcot's 1902 draft for the Lutheran Cathedral in Moscow won the contest, but the cathedral was eventually built to another architect's design. Walcot published various drafts in architectural magazines, influencing many local architects (Brumfield, fig.58).
In 1904, Walcot lost the contest for the Polytechnical Society Building in Myasnitskaya Street to Adolph Mincus; the building, completed in 1905–1907 by Alexander Kuznetsov (1874–1954), bears some details from Walcot's rejected draft.
United KingdomYakunchikova House, 1899–1900. Three Lady's Heads by the entranceIn 1906, Walcot relocated to London. There he was initially employed as a draughtsman for the South African architect Eustace Frere. He rarely returned to practical construction, designing only one London building: 61 St James's Street (1933). Rather, Walcot worked as an architectural draftsman, famous for his artistic presentation of other architects' designs and exhibiting his own work at the Royal Academy summer exhibitions.
Walcot, along with contemporary Cyril Farey, was one of the most sought after English architectural illustrators of the 1920s and 30s. Walcot developed his own impressionistic style in gouache and watercolour which won numerous commissions from Edwin Lutyens, Herbert Baker and Aston Webb. He also engaged in printmaking, creating reconstructions of ancient Greek, Roman, Babylonian and Egyptian buildings. A folio of his work was published in 1919 as Architectural Watercolours and Etchings of William Walcot. He was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1913, as an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1916 and a Fellow of the RIBA in 1922. He was also an associate of the British School at Rome.
Walcot's successful practice was ruined with the outbreak of World War II, and, in 1943, Walcot committed suicide at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. Walcot's painting and etchings are frequently exhibited; his painting palette is preserved at the Royal Institute of British Architects. He had a retrospective exhibition at the Fine Arts Society in 1974.
EtchingFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from Etcher)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etching
For other uses of etch or etching, see Etching (disambiguation). For the history of the method, see old master prints.
The Soldier and his Wife. Etching by Daniel Hopfer, who is believed to have been the first to apply the technique to printmaking.
Christ Preaching, known as The Hundred Guilder Print, an etching by Rembrandt (c. 1648). Rembrandt is generally considered the greatest etcher in the history of the medium (as an art in its own right).[1][2][3][4] His most important contribution in the history of printmaking was his transformation of the 17th-century etching process[5][6][7] from a hitherto relatively new craft into a truly admired art form in subsequent centuries,[8][9] especially in the 19th century.[10][11][12][13]
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal.[14] In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types of material. As a method of printmaking, it is, along with engraving, the most important technique for old master prints, and remains in wide use today. In a number of modern variants such as microfabrication etching and photochemical milling it is a crucial technique in much modern technology, including circuit boards.
In traditional pure etching, a metal plate (usually of copper, zinc or steel) is covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid.[15] The artist then scratches off the ground with a pointed etching needle[16] where he or she wants a line to appear in the finished piece, exposing the bare metal. The échoppe, a tool with a slanted oval section, is also used for "swelling" lines.[17] The plate is then dipped in a bath of acid, known as the mordant (French for "biting") or etchant, or has acid washed over it.[18] The acid "bites" into the metal (it undergoes a redox reaction) to a depth depending on time and acid strength, leaving behind the drawing carved into the wax on the plate. The remaining ground is then cleaned off the plate. For first and renewed uses the plate is inked in any chosen non-corrosive ink all over and the surface ink drained and wiped clean, leaving ink in the etched forms.
The plate is then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper (often moistened to soften it).[19] The paper picks up the ink from the etched lines, making a print. The process can be repeated many times; typically several hundred impressions (copies) could be printed before the plate shows much sign of wear. The work on the plate can be added to or repaired by re-waxing and further etching; such an etching (plate) may have been used in more than one state.
Etching has often been combined with other intaglio techniques such as engraving (e.g., Rembrandt) or aquatint (e.g., Francisco Goya).
Subject Matter of this William Walcot Etching:
St Giles' CathedralFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Giles%27_Cathedral
High Kirk of EdinburghCathair-eaglais Naomh Giles
Location Royal Mile, EdinburghCountry ScotlandDenomination Church of ScotlandPrevious denomination Roman CatholicStatus Parish churchFounded 12th centuryDedication Saint GilesConsecrated 6 October 1243Past bishop(s) Bishop of EdinburghArchitectureFunctional status ActiveHeritage designation Category A listed buildingDesignated 14 December 1970Style GothicSpecificationsLength 196 feet (60 metres)Width 125 feet (38 metres)[1]Height 52 feet (16 metres)[2]Spire height 145 feet (44 metres)[3]Bells 3Listed Building – Category AOfficial name High Street and Parliament Square, St Giles (High) KirkDesignated 14 December 1970Reference no. LB27381
St Giles' Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel.[4] St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.[5]
Likely founded in the 12th century and dedicated to Saint Giles, the church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, such as a prison and as a meeting place for the Parliament of Scotland. In 1633, Charles I made St Giles' the cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Edinburgh. Charles' attempt to impose a Scottish Prayer Book in St Giles' on 23 July 1637 caused a riot, which precipitated the formation of the Covenanters and the beginnings of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.[6] The church's role in the Scottish Reformation and the Covenanters' Rebellion has led to its being called "the Mother Church of World Presbyterianism".[7]
St Giles' is one of Scotland's most important medieval parish church buildings.[8] The first church of St Giles' was a small, Romanesque building of which only fragments remain. In the 14th century, this was replaced by the current building, which was enlarged between the late 14th and early 16th centuries. The church was altered between 1829 and 1833 by William Burn and restored between 1872 and 1883 by William Hay with the support of William Chambers. Chambers hoped to make St Giles' a "Westminster Abbey for Scotland" by enriching the church and adding memorials to notable Scots. Between 1909 and 1911, the Thistle Chapel, designed by Robert Lorimer, was added to the church.[4][9]
Since the medieval period, St Giles' has been the site of nationally important events and services; the services of the Order of the Thistle take place here. Alongside housing an active congregation, the church is one of Scotland's most popular visitor sites: it attracted over a million visitors in 2018.[10]