Catherwood, Frederick | A striking image of Palenque

Catherwood, Frederick

Principal Court of the Palace at Palenque [upper subject]; Interior of Casa No. III., at Palenque [lower subject]. [7]. London: F. Catherwood, 1844

Tinted lithograph (top image: 181 x 270 mm; bottom image: 184 x 270 mm; mounted on a card: 537 x 438 mm). Lithograph after Catherwood, hand-colored, trimmed to the image and mounted on card as issued, ink ruled border and ink manuscript plate number in the lower right corner.

A striking image from the rare hand-colored issue of this important work

Frederick Catherwood was a British architect and artist with a strong interest in archaeology. These combined talents led him to accompany the American traveler and explorer, John Lloyd Stephens, on two trips to the Mayan region of southern Mexico in 1839 and 1841. These explorations resulted in Stephens' two famous works, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan and Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. These immensely popular works, foundation stones in Mayan studies, were both illustrated by Catherwood and inspired him to undertake the larger portfolio. The work of Stephens and Catherwood received great praise. Of Catherwood, Huxley writes: "Catherwood belongs to a species, the artist-archaeologist, which is all but extinct. Piranesi was the most celebrated specimen and Catherwood his not unworthy successor."

Three hundred copies of the work were produced. Most copies are the standard issue, containing tinted lithographed plates. A much more limited number were issued in the present deluxe format: with the plates expertly hand-colored, cut to the edge of the image and mounted on card stock in imitation of the original watercolors. Very few such deluxe copies have appeared on the market in the last quarter century, with the most recent portfolio selling for $120,000 (Christie's New York, 5 December 2006). Palenque was a large Maya city state in present-day Chiapas, Mexico. The city, which flourished during the 7th century, was inhabited from about 220 BC to 799 AD, over a thousand years.

"In the whole range of literature on the Maya there has never appeared a more magnificent work" (Von Hagen).

REFERENCE

Groce & Wallace 115; Hill 263; Palau 50290; Sabin 11520; Tooley (1954) 133; Von Hagen, Search for the Maya 320-24. Not in Abbey.