(Buchinger, Matthias) | The first portrait print to be signed by Buchinger , (Buchinger, Matthias) | The first portrait print to be signed by Buchinger

(Buchinger, Matthias)
Autograph calligraphic inscription, in Dutch, signed by Buchinger ("Ick Matthias Buchinger") in red ink at the foot of an engraved portrait of him

Engraved portrait of Buchinger (262 x 180 mm), anonymous, London or Amsterdam, inscribed by Buchinger in red in the lower margin, Amsterdam, 10 October 1705; trimmed close, a little worn at old folds, tipped to mat board and matted.

The first print to be signed by Buchinger as a souvenir of his performances and the second earliest recorded example of his autograph (the Atlas Von Stolk collection in Rotterdam has another copy of this print signed and dated by Buchinger one day earlier than Jay's example, 9 October 1705).

At the time he signed this portrait print, Buchinger was 31; he had been performing for about eleven years, had been married and widowered, and had a three-year–old daughter. This print established the standard iconography for Buchinger: "a formally dressed Buchinger … is standing on a cushion in front of an ornate desk. On it are a quill pen inserted into an inkpot, a piece if paper with a drawing (likely a flower), a dulcimer-like instrument (the German hackbrett), and a pair of dice. Leaning against the table is a rifle. All of these are items that Buchinger exhibited" (MB, p. 10). These accoutrements, and others, appear in the vignettes demonstrating Buchinger's multiple skills in the famous etching by Elias Beck.

The present print is inscribed by Buchinger, "Ick Matthias Buchinger Sonder handen en voeten Geboren bij Neurenburg out 31 Jar hebe Dese Geschreven Tot Amsterdam Anno 1705 Den. 10. octr."

REFERENCE:
Exemplars, p. 56; MB, fig. 3; Wordplay 51

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.

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