Lot 117D email save

WEST, Benjamin. William Penn's Treaty with the In

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London: John Boydell, [c. 1771-1775]. Engraving (465 x 610 mm). Provenance: Martin P. Snyder. rare unfinished proof with the figures blocked out. A possible explanation for this unusual proof is that it represents an instance of multiple engravers working on the same plate. It seems likely that two different engravers worked on the print, with the landscapist having completed his engraving before the portraitist had arranged his composition. This proof also calls attention to artist John Hall and publisher John Boydell's re-appraisal of the original West painting, as the reversed reconfiguration of Penn and the Indians is weighed against the background. The original Hall drawing in which the figures were first rearranged is housed in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania along with other trial proofs. See Snyder, COI pp. 250-252.

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