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IGNACE-JOSEPH de CLAUSSIN (Lunéville 1766 - 1844 Les Batignolles/Paris)
....J'ai faite une copie de cette estampe rare,dont la gravure est un peu plus soignée ; c'est en quoi elle diffère de l'originale.........(de Claussin)
De Claussin was a very eccentric man and many are the anecdotes told about him , i.e. how he went to bed with his valuable Rembrandt collection
tucked under his pillow,how he saved every penny to be able to buy more and better engravings , how at an auction with tears in his eyes,
he asked his competitors not to bid against him....as he needed a last Rembrandt etching to complete his intended Rembrandt Catalogue Raisonné.
cf. PETER HELM Rembrandt Catalogue 2006 printed catalog & online catalogue Nos.43-71c
de Claussin is one the most skilfull masters surrounding Rembrandt.Many of his works are most deceptive.
For example the etching after Rembrandt's Polander standing with his stick : profile to right
plate measuring only 59x24 mm etched after the Rembrandt Etching belonging 1807 to George Hibbert, Esq. Portland House & Clapham
Arthur Hind in his Catalogue No.40, illustrating the British Museum exemplaire
and citing Middleton's No.2
(...In what we accept as the original , the skirt of the Polander's doublet which hangs behind over the sword,
is shaded with irregular descending lines; in M's copy2 these lines are in pairs closer together, and dividede from each other by broader spaces.
In the original, the face wears a more serious expression....)
In the supplement to his own Rembrandt Catalogue (1828) De Claussin notes one copy of the present plate by himself
(Pièces gravées d'après Rembrandt No.143[141])
rembrandt:: 40 ::de claussin
Even Rovinski in his Oeuvre Magnum the first Catalogue Raisonné with each plate in heliogravure was confused by Claussin's techniques and
illustrated a Claussin etching after Rembrandt from the Berlin impression as an Original by Rembrandt's hand.(R.412)
This error was discovered by Arthur Hind/British Museum some years later and mentioned in his own Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings.
The Little Polander Bartsch No.142 / Peter Helm Rembrandt Catalogue 2006 No.45
is the smallest etching of all Rembrandts and of greatest rarity.
The above shown Etching after Rembrandt B23,second state Self Portrait with Plumed Cap and Lowered Sabre
is an early contemporary masterwork by Claussin.A Fine dark impression, in very good condition.
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