Artist: William Henry Bartlett (1809–1854)
Engraver: E.W. Topham (active 1840s)
Technique: Original Antique Steel Engraving
Dimensions: Plate: approx. 12.5x19.0 cm (excluding frame)
Status: Authentic circa 1840 print, explicit text attributions on the lower plate border, beautifully mounted and framed in a custom gallery frame
Publisher: George Virtue, London
About the Artwork:
This authentic antique steel engraving, published circa eighteen forty, captures a highly revered biblical landscape titled Jacob's Well, at Sychar (located near modern-day Nablus, West Bank). The site carries immense historical and theological weight, famously documented in the Gospel of John chapter four, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well dug by the patriarch Jacob. Masterfully drawn from nature by the prominent British topographical illustrator William Henry Bartlett, the composition focuses on the ancient stone-rimmed circular opening of the well in the left foreground. Three regional figures in traditional Ottoman-era drapery are depicted resting on the grassy mound immediately surrounding the well. The expansive landscape rolls down into the fertile valley of Shechem, backdropped by the dramatic, rising mountain slopes of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal under an atmospheric sky. A distant caravan with camels and a local building are visible in the background. Engraved onto steel with exceptional fine-line precision and tonal depth by E.W. Topham, this framed print is a premium collector's piece of Holy Land iconography.
About the Artists:
William Henry Bartlett (1809–1854): One of the most celebrated and prolific British topographical illustrators of the nineteenth century, famed for his highly accurate on-the-spot travel sketches of the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
E.W. Topham (Active 1840s): An accomplished English landscape line engraver who worked alongside premier London print publishers to capture the subtle textures and lighting of travel drawings.