Artist: Johann Wilhelm Meil (1733-1805) Berlin; illustrator and engraver.
Engraver: Johann Gottlieb Friedrich Unger (1755-1804), wood-engraver: Berlin; seems to have also worked as a publisher for etchings by Johann Wilhelm Meil. He also published works by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, August, Friedrich Schlegel, etc.
Title: Two Carpenters. One is drunk with a bottle in his hands, and the second sharpens a saw. The wife and their child ask the first to stop drinking.
Titled, Dated, and Signed in plate: JWM inv[ent]; U Sec[ond].
Collector's stamp AU in ink in Gothic script verso (not in Lugt).
Dimensions: 2 1/2" x 3 5/8".
Date: 1779.
Materials and Techniques: woodcut on paper, adhered to support paper sheet in two upper corners.
Provenance:
- Collection AU.
- The Estate of George "Yorgo" Demetrakopoulos; professor, assistant director of the Medieval Institute, and assistant to the dean at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, from 1965-2000.
Condition: Foxing, faded print, wear. The signs of aging are appropriate for the time. A detailed condition report is available on demand.
Museums and Libraries: The British Museum 1859,0212.118.1-25
Art Movements, Periods & Schools: German School XVIII C.
Note: This entry incorporates text from Wikipedia and the catalog entry of a similar item from the British Museum collection.