"Des Metaux." A Pen Drawing by Robert Lenkiewicz after a woodcut of alchemists at work in Annibal Barlet's 'Le Vray et Methodique Cours de la Physique Resolutive Vulgairement dite Chymie' (1657). Lenkiewicz's drawing is undated, but was probably executed in the 1970s.
Drawn in black-blue ink on a sheet of buff coloured paper. The size of the image and immediate surrounds (as shown) is approx. 13 inches high x 10 inches wide. The size of the whole sheet of which this is a part is 14 inches high x 11 inches wide, The work is headed at the top "Des Metaux .. Figure 3" and in between, in Lenkiewicz's regular handwriting: "Barlet': Vray et Methodique Cours de la Physique Resolutive." Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz (1941 - 2002) was a renowned British artist, Hermeticist, and student of the alchemical arts, who was also well-known as an eccentric and book-collector. He was a regular visitor to the British Library and the British Museum, where he made careful sketches based on the illustrations and diagrams that were relevant to his studies that he found in rare alchemical manuscripts and books. This is one such drawing. It was kept by Lenkiewicz in a large folio entitled "On Alchemical Apparatus," and was evidently related to his personal researches into the subject, rather than being a "finished artwork" that was intended for exhibition or sale. As such it is not signed, although we do provide a guarantee and certificate of authenticity. The drawing is after a woodcut in Annibal Barlet's 'Le Vray et Methodique Cours de la Physique Resolutive Vulgairement dite Chymie' ('The True and Methodical Course in Resolutive Physick, Commonly called Chemistry'), published in Paris in 1657. Although much of his work could be considered 'practical chemistry,' Barlet's writings were steeped in the language of alchemy, and he espoused a neo-Paracelsian cosmology with strong alchemical and astrological influence. His design for the Cosmic Furnace - a probably-metaphorical device designed to achieve the union of the three principles: sulphur, salt, and mercury - drew the positive attentions of contemporary alchemists. There are two small holes punched in the extreme left margin, and a little light creasing at the edges, otherwise clean, unmarked, VG+ condition. Please note that what looks like toning in the lower left quadrant is an artefact of the camera. Item #70455
Price: $485.00