Beschrijving
Portrait of Frederick the Great, also Frederick II (1712-1786), monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786.
Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size 288 x 232 mm., platemark 223 x 159 mm. Engraved by Johann Esaias Nilson, the portrait after a painting by Antoine Pesne, the decorative border after own design. The print was published by Nilson himself (a later state also by V. Rosselin).
Johann Esaias Nilson (Augsburg 1721-1788) was a member of the prolific Augsburg family of printmakers, painters and draughtspersons. Johann Esaias was a publisher, watercolorist, engraver, and court painter.
Antoine Pesne (Paris 1683-1757 Berlin) was a French-born German (court) painter and painter of interiors.
In good condition, ample margins. The far right and left margin edges uneven, creased and with small tears (reinforced on the verso with acid-free archival tape). Soiling in the lower margin and caption in the image area.
References: 'Johann Esaias Nilson: ein Kupferstecher des Süddeutschen Rokoko 1721-1788', p. 112-113: 282; 'Katalog der Ornamentstich-Sammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek Berlin', vol. 1, p. 27: 166. No states described, but this before the address of Rosselin.
