Matteo Ripa (1682-1746) "Trente-six vues de la demeure montagneuse pour fuir les chaleurs estivales" Dynastie Qing, époque Kangxi, 1711-1714

comprenant la série complète des 36 gravures, commandées par l'Empereur Kangxi, gravées par Matteo Ripa d'après les dessins de Shen Yu, in-folio, broché, couverture en soie jaune (36)

Formerly in the collection of Arthur-Auguste Brölemann (1826-1904), Lyon (according to the Ex-libris on the inside cover of the album).

Each image/engraving in the album is backed, folded in the middle, attached to a spine and bound as a book in the Western style. Both covers are covered with a faded yellow silk textile. The spine cover is gone, the bound leaves exposed, the silk threads holding them together loose. The covers are loose, held together only loosely in the upper part of the spine. There is wear to the edges of the silk textile on the covers and to the board beneath it. The individual engravings have been backed in the past, and reinforced in the past with glued stubs on the back where they are folded in the middle. There is reddish staining on the back of theses stubs and reddish stains scattered across the surfaces of most engravings, more evident on some and less on others, and going through the backing paper.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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The present copy bears the Ex-libris of Arthur-Auguste Brölemann (1826-1904), Lyon, grandson of the well-known collector Henry-Auguste Brölemann (1775-1854), Lyon, whose vast collection of medieval manuscripts and rare books he inherited and which was eventually sold by his great-granddaughter, Mme. Etienne Mallet, in our London rooms in 1926. It is quite likely, that this copy was acquired by Henry-Auguste Brölemann or his grandson Arthur-Auguste Brölemann in the 19th century (Fig. 2). 

The present copy comprises the complete set of Matteo Ripa‘s thirty-six engravings. Each image in the album is backed, folded in the middle, attached to a spine and bound as a book in the Western style. Both covers are covered with a faded yellow silk textile that is Chinese in origin and imperial in connotation (Fig. 2). The Brölemann copy shows the same features as a copy of the same complete set of engravings in the collection of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D. C., which is also bound as a Western book and, moreover, with covers covered with the same patterned yellow silk. It suggests that both copies may have been compiled and bound at the same time as the seventy copies of the complete set bound in one volume and presented to the Kangxi emperor in 1714, see Richard E. Strassberg, 'An Intercultural Artist. Matteo Ripa, His Engravings, and Their Transmission to the West', in Thirty-Six Views. The Kangxi Emperor's Mountain Estate in Poetry and Prints, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D. C., 2016, pp. 41-71, pp. 70-71.