DATE PRINTED: 1810 (dated on print) from a view drawn between 1776 and 1794.
SIZE: The printed area including titles is approximately 33.5 x 25 cm, 13.25 x 9.75 inches (large) plus margins.
ARTIST/CARTOGRAPHER/ENGRAVER: The colored aquatints, engraved by William Watts were based on drawings by Luigi Mayer. Luigi Mayer (1755–1803) was an Italian-German artist and one of the earliest and most important late 18th-century European painters of the Ottoman Empire. Mayer was a close friend of Sir Robert Ainslie, 1st Baronet, a British ambassador to Turkey between 1776 and 1792, and the bulk of his paintings and drawings during this period were commissioned by Ainslie. He travelled extensively through the Ottoman Empire between 1776 and 1794, and became well known for his sketches and paintings of panoramic landscapes of ancient sites from the Balkans to the Greek Islands, Turkey and Egypt, particularly ancient monuments and the Nile. Many of the works were amassed in Ainslie's collection, which was later presented to the British Museum, providing a valuable insight into the Middle East of that period. His wife, Clara Barthold Mayer, worked as his assistant and produced her own paintings. William Watts (1752–1851) was an English line-engraver.
PROVENANCE: A plate from "Views in the Ottoman Dominions, in Europe, in Asia, and some of the Mediterranean islands" (1810) illustrated by Luigi Mayer (1755-1803).
TYPE: Early colour aquatint printed on paper. Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique from a copper plate where whole areas are evenly hollowed out to give a uniform tint and by this method a variety of tones are achieved throughout the print.
VERSO: There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is blank.
CONDITION: Good, suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Virtually all antiquarian maps and prints are subject to some normal aging due to use and time which is not significant unless otherwise stated. I offer a no questions asked return policy.
AUTHENTICITY: This is an authentic antique print, published at the date stated above. I do not offer reproductions. It is not a modern copy. The term 'original' when applied to a print means that it was printed at the first or original date of publication; it does not imply that the item is unique.
RETURNS POLICY: I offer a no questions returns policy. All I ask is that you pay return shipping and mail back to me in original condition.
POSTAGE / SHIPPING COSTS: I only charge postage for the first print ordered. There is no additional postage charge if you order more than one print.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Latakia (Arabic: ٱللَّاذْقِيَّة \ ٱللَّاذِقِيَّة, al-Lāḏqīyah / al-Lāḏiqīyah; ) is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mare. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages. It is the 4th-largest city in Syria after Aleppo, Damascus and Homs, and it borders Tartus to the south, Hama to the east, and Idlib to the north while Cape Apostolos Andreas, the most north-eastern tip of Cyprus is about 68 miles (109 km) away.
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