Frédéric Martens
Pêche du Cachalot, Cachalot Fishery

Public Domain

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Images(2)

Artist Frédéric Martens(Italo-German, active France, 1806–1885)Italo-German, active France, 1806–1885

Afterafter Ambroise Louis Garneray(French, 1783–1857)French, 1783–1857

PublisherPublished by Rittner & Goupil(Montmarte, Paris)Montmarte, Paris

CultureFrench

Titles

Pêche du Cachalot, Cachalot Fishery

Datec. 1834–1835

PlaceFrance

MediumAquatint, etching, and engraving on white wove paper

DimensionsPlate: 21 5/8 × 31 5/8 in. (54.9 × 80.3 cm)
Sheet: 25 1/2 × 33 1/2 in. (64.8 × 85.1 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Mary Beth Baird bequest, by exchange

Object numberB.2015.4

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Chillman Parlor

On view

Explore Further

Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionThis print is one of a pair that are mentioned in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851), which recounts the quest of captain Ahab of the whaling vessel Pequod to hunt down and kill the albino sperm whale Moby Dick, which in a previous voyage had destroyed his ship and severed his leg. Melville called the prints “by far the finest…presentations of whales and whaling scenes to be anywhere found.” This print depicts the hunt for a sperm whale.
Provenance[The Old Print Shop, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, left: Garneray pinx
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, middle: PÊCHE DU CACHALOT. CACHALOT FISHERY.
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, right: Martens sculp
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, center bottom edge: Paris, publie par Rittner et Goupil, 9, Boulevard Montmartre
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, center right edge: Sauniée impr.

Recto: Publisher's Mark, below image, left bottom edge: RITTNER ET GOUPIL / EDITE [impression shows part of two additional letters, possibly "U" and "R"] / A. PARIS [blind stamp]

Verso: Inscribed in graphite, lower right corner: 80456-1

Frame Verso: Label in printed ink/graphite, center top edge: The OLD PRINT SHOP INC. / FINE PRINTS, ANTIQUE MAPS and ART BOOKS / established 1898 / 3426 [in graphite] / KENNETH M. NEWMAN HARRY S. NEWMAN / ROBERT K. NEWMAN / 150 LEXINGTON AVENUE AT 30TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10016-8108 / TEL 212.683.3950 FAX 212.779.8040 / info@oldprintshop.com www.oldprintshop.com / Buying, Selling, and Building American Collections of Prints, Maps and Fine Art Books / CORRECT FRAMING

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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