In the nineteenth century, George Baxter's innovative process for improving colour printing using wooden blocks lay in building up a series of tints, one after the other, with the aid of engraved wooden blocks, upon a perfect impression of a steel or copper-plate engraving. For this he obtained a patent in 1835. Falling upon hard times Baxter sold licenses for using his process to several printers, one of whom was Le Blond and Company. This firm was recognized as the most important of the Baxter licensees because its work was nearest to Baxter's in style and quality. Le Blond & Co produced the well-known Le Blond Baxters in 1868, by acquiring Baxter's original plates and blocks and erasing the original Baxter signature. These prints were of inferior quality; the prints which made Le Blond famous were the Le Blond Ovals. "The Burning Glass"
"Moonlight"
In these prints, Le Blond & Co introduced a completely individual manner of production and style, breaking away from the Baxter tradition. The Ovals, a set of thirty-two prints, each measure six and a half by five inches and are printed in the centre of a mount ten by eight inches. Each picture is surrounded by an embossed rim, and the title and serial number of the print are embossed in a small panel in the bottom right-hand corner of the mount.
The subject of the Ovals presents a nostalgic picture of rural life in the early nineteenth century. The foreground of each picture is dominated by the subject matter of the title, the background is uncluttered, with just sufficient detail to complete the picture. The Ovals are well produced, brilliant in colour and have become collectors' items, competing as they did, in terms of popularity, with Baxter's prints. The Pratt Library has acquired ten of the Le Blond Ovals for its Baxter collection; three of our new acquisitions are shown in the special collections section: Burning Glass, Moonlight; The Swing. "The Swing"
from Mitzman, Max E. George Baxter and the Baxter Prints. Newton Abbot, [Eng]: David & Charles, 1978.

 

The Pedler

 This print may be from a painting by William Collins. It shows an itinerant pedlar showing his wares outside a cottage to a mother and her children.

This print may be after a painting by William Collins, the father of Wilkie Collins.
THE BLACKBERRY GATHERERS

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last updated Mar. 25/05