19th May, 2026 10:00
Old Master, British and European Art
28
Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (French, 1734-1781)
An underground dwelling of the people of Kamchatka
pen and brown ink with light brown and grey washes;
verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer of the design to the copperplate
sheet 13.5 x 8cm; unframed
Footnote:The peninsula of Kamchatka in the Russian Far East lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west. The cold monsoon climate is extremely severe. The indigenous Kamchadaly were engaged in hunting and fishing.
In 1758, Le Prince journeyed to Russia to work for Catherine the Great at the Imperial Palace, St Petersburg. He remained in Russia for five years and also travelled extensively throughout Finland, Lithuania and even Siberia. When he returned to Paris in December 1763, he brought with him an extensive collection of drawings which he employed as the basis for a number of paintings and etchings. Le Prince was elected a full member of the 'Académie de peinture et de sculpture' in 1765. His graphic art of Russia and its peoples is significant in that he based his compositions entirely upon his own designs, lending a much more realistic portrayal to his views than other 18th-century contemporaries.
The drawing is a preparatory design, in reverse, for an engraving of a yurt [Fr. iourte] inhabited by the people of Kamchatka in Russia, published by Charles Theodore Middleton (1756-circa 1818) in his 'New and Complete System of Geography', 2 vols. (London, 1777-8), and also engraved by Jacques Renaud Bérnard (1731-94) for Jean-François de La Harpe, 'Abrégé d’histoire générale des voyages (Paris, 1780-1801)', vol. 17, p. 452, pl. 68. The image also appears in several later publications with a similar composition but different figures in the foreground, for instance engraved by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (1740-1813), Barent de Bakker (fl.1800-1824) and Benoît-Louis Prévost (1747-circa 1804). A related drawing of the same underground dwelling is in the collection of the Ville de Rouen (inv. no. 54.397).
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Sold for £550
Condition Report
Executed on laid paper. Stuck down along top edge. There is a little creasing to the upper edge and a diagonal crease in the lower right corner. Time staining with some brown spotting starting to emerge to margins. Washes slightly faded in places.
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Auction: Old Master, British and European Art, 19th May, 2026
Viewing
London Viewing | Highlights
A selection of lots will be on view Tuesday 21 April - Friday 1 May at our London Gallery, 15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ, as follows:
Monday-Friday, 11am - 5.30pm
Saturday - Closed
Sunday - Closed
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Stansted Viewing | Auction
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 15 May, 10am - 4pm
Sunday 17 May, 10am - 1pm
Monday 18 May, 10am - 4pm
All lots are, however, extensively illustrated and carry detailed condition reports - see 'Condition report' at the foot of each lot description.
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
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