Thomas Bowler Original 1864 Victorian Engraving. Blinkwater Hill.

Unfortunately the mount around the picture has a very light stain on it on the top left corner, even though the frame and the print itself are in very good condition. I opened it up and reversed the mount, and it looks better. Please scroll to the end of the listing for the updated photo of appearance.

Beautiful condition original 1864 Victorian stone lithograph,  expertly framed by Infinart, Cape Town's best framers.

Thomas Bowler, the most famous Victorian South African artist, toured the Eastern Cape in the 1860s and was particularly taken with a picturesque area know as Blinkwater, 10km from Fort Beaufort on the road towards Queenstown.

A local writer: " A unique little place we know as picturesque named for the waters not only in the Blinkwater River that runs into the Kat River but for the shining slabs of Dolerite we often see with the sun reflecting off the seeping rocks of the hills and mountains of the Blinkwater after good rains".

Bowler painted a number of scenes in the area and these were engraved on his return. He often chose areas of particular significance in the Frontier Wars with the Xhosas.

This particular engraving appeared in 1865 in a book by the artist.

You can tell this is the original Victorian stone lithography and not a later copy because of the fantastic fine detail and the random non-geometric stipple effect caused by the stone used. There are no signs of later lower resolution pixellated printing and the paper used is the original.

Frame is 45 x 36 cm and engraving is 28 x 19 cm.

Postnet to Postnet is R99 or The Courier Guy to major centres is also R99.