Our Notes & References

FINE SET OF LARGE FORMAT ENGRAVED VIEWS CONSTITUTING A SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL RECORD OF LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MOSCOW. FINE EXAMPLES WITH WIDE MARGINS.

The publication of the views, engraved after watercolours by the French artist La Barthe (1730-1810), was undertaken at the expense of the owner of most of these watercolours, Johann Walser. A Swiss merchant resident in Moscow in the early 1790s, he commissioned La Barthe to produce a series of Moscow scenes between 1794 and 1797. Shortly afterwards Walser returned to Switzerland, where he enlisted the services of six experienced engravers (M.G. Eichler, H. Guttenburg, P.J. Laminit, G.C. Oberkogler, F.B. and J. Lorieux) to reproduce his watercolours in print. Twelve engraved views were published with the Tsar’s permission, and the plates were captioned in both Russian and French, indicating Walser’s intentions to sell them in Russia and in Europe.

Sets comprising large part of the series are rare. We found examples with a complete set of engravings only in two libraries – Concordia University Libraries in Quebec, Canada and British Library, which holds a copy from the collection of King George III; no copies found in RGB or RNB.

This set of four views includes some of the most famous places in the Russian capital: Vue du Kremlin et de ses environs a Moscou; Vue de la porte sainte et de ses environs à Moscou; Vue de la grande Place et des Boutiques à Moscou; Vue de la Mokavaia et de la maison de Mr Paschkof à Moscou.