A French Gilt Copper Engraver's Plaque of the Continents, by Adolphe Dubois (1826-1865), circa 1850

depicting four continents, represented by allegorical figures with banners inscribed L'ASIE, L'EUROPE, L'AFRIQUE, and L'AMERIQUE, interspersed with foliage and rocaille surrounding a central oval cartouche depicting a peacock and abundant fruites and flowers before a classical landscape, the cartouche surmounted with attributes of the arts, signed at bottom center in the plate ADOLPHE DUBOIS DEL ET SCUPT, together with two printed impressions on paper.

Adolphe Dubois opened his workshop in 1850 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, a town famous for its horology and now as the home of the Musee International d'Horlogerie.  He was highly regarded for his skill and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1855.  After Dubois's early death, his workshop was carried on by his brother in law, Fritz Kundert.