Newly Re-Discovered Print of the Capitol at Washington in 1892

Studio Antiques has found the original engraved copper printing plate of the “Capitol at Washington” done by Max Franke in 1892. We are offering a limited edition re-strike engraving of this print, handpulled from the original plate by master printmaker Roger Bailey. It will be limited to a numbered edition of only 350 and will not be republished. Each print comes with a “Certificate of Authenticity”

Lost for over a century, the unidentified copper printing plate was found at a small Washington D.C. area auction. It was dark, tarnished and dirty but we were able make out the figure of Freedom on the dome of the Capitol Building. We bought it, not knowing if it could ever again be used to print an image. We met with Professor Roger Bailey who taught printmaking at Sara Lawrence College. He suggested trying to pull a print and over the next several months he was able to meticulously restore the plate to good condition without over-restoring it to the point that it looked new. The resulting print is a stunning genuine intaglio image of our nations Capitol in 1892.

These fine quality re-strikes are not to be confused with the normal type of “fine art” prints that are widely available from many galleries or poster stores, which are generally photo lithographs of varying quality and printed on a modern paper, often not of archival quality. The subtle look and feel of a genuine intaglio art print, on fine paper along with its plate mark just cannot be reproduced with modern methods. Each impression is crafted individually and entirely by hand, in the same manner as the copperplate printer of centuries ago.The traditional hand pulled method of printing and archival quality of the paper ensures these will far outlast normal “fine art” prints.

Plate Size: 12” x 17.75”
Sheet size:15” x 21”
Unframed