REMBRANDT VAN RIJN Bust of an Old Bearded Man, Looking

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN

Bust of an Old Bearded Man, Looking down, Three Quarters Right.

Etching, 1631. 122x108 mm; 4x4¼ inches, narrow to thread margins. Biörklund's third state (of 3), after the reduction of the plate at the far right; Usticke's second state (of 3); White and Boon's third state (of 3). Partial Posthorn watermark (Ash/Fletcher 31 A.a., which they date to circa 1620 and note that a similar watermark is on another lifetime impression of this subject in the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York, Vanderbilt Collection). Ex-collection Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, duplicate ink stamp (Lugt 5184, verso); Wilhelm Koller (Lugt 2632, verso); and unknown collector, indecipherable ink stamp verso. A superb, strong impression of this extremely scarce etching with little to no sign of wear.We have found only 15 other impressions at auction in the past 30 years. Bartsch 260; Biörklund 31-E; Hollstein (White and Boon) 260.