Petitot, Ennemond-Alexandre and Benigno Bossi.
Suite des vases tirée du cabinet de Monsieur le Marquis de Felino.
Milan: Ioachim Betalli, 1764-1765.
A COMPLETE SET, WITH EXCELLENT IMPRESSIONS AND HUGE MARGINS, OF ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT LATE-18TH CENTURY SUITES OF ORNAMENTAL PRINTS.
33 leaves in all: an etched title-page, by Bossi after Petitot; an engraved title-page; an etched dedication (numbered 1 in the upper right-hand corner), by Bossi after Petitot; and thirty fine, extremely imaginative etchings of vases (numbered from 2 to 31 in the upper right-hand corners) by Bossi after Petitot.
All plates are outstanding impressions in the final state.
Printed on extremely fine laid paper. Large folio (leaf size: 50 x 33 cm). ENTIRELY UNCUT, IN THE ORIGINAL BOARDS.
A few small, faint, old spots, else FINE AND BRIGHT, ON BRIGHT WHITE PAPER IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.
Plate 3, supplied from another set, has narrower (yet still very ample) margins.
Boards somewhat worn and a bit soiled but still structurally sound.
See W. Cole, "The States of Petitot and Bossi's Suite de Vases (Print Quarterly vol. X, no 2 [June 1993], pp. 156-160). See also M. Myers, Regency to Empire, pp 182-184; Guilmard, p 225; and P. Bedarida, Feste, Fontane, Festoni a Parma nel Settecento, pp. 84-96.
EXCEEDINGLY RARE IN THE ORIGINAL BOARDS.
