a composite plate of various antique bronze oil lamps and a vase encrusted with cameos, from the series ‘Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi disegnati ed incisi dal Cav. Gio. Batt. Piranesi pubblicati l’anno MDCCLXXIIX’. This was one of the last substantial works Piranesi produced, from around 1768 until his death in 1778. So, although individual plates appeared singly or in groups over this period, the edition only appearing in what might be considered its finished state thanks to the input and efforts of his son, Francesco. The Bracciano watermark of this sheet of 18th century Italian laid paper indicates it is an early posthumous edition, probably around 1779, prior to Francesco’s relocation to Paris at the turn of the century with his father’s printing plates, and before the addition of plate numbers which were applied when he first re-issued them between 1800 and 1807,
etching with engraving on laid paper with a Bracciano watermark, 390 x 535 mm. (15 3/8 x 21 1/8 in), a soft central vertical fold, wide margins with a fold near the left sheet edge, well away from the plate mark, [Focillon 613; Wilton-Ely 900].