Preliminary identification
Photo reference
1 uploaded photo
Overview
This is an original hand-colored antique steel engraving titled 'Hortensia' (Hydrangea) from J.J. Grandville's legendary 1847 botanical fantasy work, 'Les Fleurs Animées' (The Animated Flowers). Grandville brilliantly anthropomorphized flora into elegant women, mythological figures, and whimsical surrealist vignettes, prefiguring modern surrealism by nearly a century.
Story
In 1847 Paris, satirist J.J. Grandville transformed delicate garden blossoms into living, breathing theatrical heroines. His dreamlike, bizarre botanical visions directly inspired the Surrealist masters decades later.
Maker / Origin
Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gérard, known by the pseudonym J.J. Grandville (1803–1847), was one of the most inventive French illustrators and caricaturists of the 19th century. Renowned for his political satire and imaginative transformations of animals and plants into human forms, his work heavily influenced artists like Max Ernst and André Breton.
Condition & Value
The print appears clean and well-preserved with vibrant original hand-coloring, nicely mounted in a modern mat board. Any minor paper toning is consistent with mid-19th-century wove paper and does not detract significantly from display value.
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Comparable demand stays strongest where maker, originality, and venue confidence line up. Broader examples still trade, but the range tightens quickly when provenance, condition, or selling lane fit is missing.
Best Venue
Specialty auction or a focused dealer with buyers already in this lane.
Signed example with light edge wear and original frame.
Comparable format with stronger provenance and cleaner surface.
Smaller related piece with visible craquelure and trimmed margins.
Period match with softer condition and weaker subject matter.
Close market lane comp with similar material and presentation.