Lithograph on two Chines appliqués, one yellowish tan and the other grayish cream, 1861. 643x483 mm; 25 3/8x19 inches (mount sheet), full margins. Préaud's first state B (of 2), with the "white bird" lower left and before the transfer to another stone in 1868. Edition of approximately 200 lifetime impressions. Printed by Lemercier, Paris, with the address "Imp Lemercier Paris" lower center. A brilliant, early and richly-inked impression of this very important lithograph with extremely strong contrasts and all the details distinct.
Lifetime impressions, such as the current work, are exceedingly scarce; we have located only 8 other such impressions at auction in the past 30 years. There is also a more common, posthumous edition of approximately 800 impressions (printed after the transfer of the subject to another stone). Van Gelder 100; Préaud 29.
