15TH CENTURY ENGRAVED WOODBLOCK/CUT FOUND. NEED ADVICE!...

Would anyone on this board have any knowledge on 15th century illuminated manuscript engraved woodcut blocks? I found one in my attic & was told it was a block used to
print a page from the BOOK OF HOURS....It was engraved in France in the 15th century.

I tried downloading the photos to the site but it tells me the jpegs are too big.

 

Who told you what it is? Do they know what they're talking about?

If it is a woodcut from a 15th C Book of Hours, searching incunabula Book of Hours might turn up something, though I rather doubt it. "Incunabula" refers to books printed from the 1450s to 1501 - the earliest printed European books. At least looking at some woodcuts from the period might give you an idea of how well the style matches.

 

Bit of confusion about the information you've been given. Illuminated manuscripts were done by hand; they were not engraved or printed. You will want to post a good quality photograph of your "block" so we can assist you in identifying what you have.

Debora

 

If you are using your cell phone for the photos, email the photos to yourself and during that process you can make them smaller.

 

Here are the photos. I got the information from a Museum Historian in Los A ngeles

 

Thank you. What are the dimensions? What is the backing made of? Additional photographs of the item taken straight on of the front and back and close-up photographs of any writing, labels, or other markings are also important for us to see.

Debora

 

From a cursory internet search, it appears Bullier (the name stamped on the back) was in business during the Victorian-era. That would date your item to the 19th century.

Debora

 

I would ask another expert, the famous french Books of Hours, which were printed in the end of the 15 th century until about 1520 have a completely different style and most illustrations were metalcuts not woodcuts.
(for example https://books.google.at/books?id=DrOG1yHMhwAC or http://bibliophilie.com/une-specialite-parisienne-les-livres-dheures-imprimes/ )

And if I see it correct in your picture the artist used the end grain, which would mean it is a wood engraving https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_engraving not a woodcut, which would date it in the 19th century.

 

The scene represented is probably from the New Testament, Luke 2:25–35 - Simeon recognizing the infant Christ when he was presented in the Temple on his 40th day. So, not a book of hours either.
I agree with McAdder that it looks like a wood engraving. Probably from an illustrated Bible of the 19th century.

 

Scooped. Was going to add the scene is Simeon:

 

@Debora - Can you please post a link to where you found the information about Bullier? (I am having difficulty seeing the E in the word stamped on the back of the block, but 2 Rs doesn't seem right either.)

 

The Bullier I can find seems to have made art supplies and of course may have done other related things, such as produce these blocks, the way you can have a rubber stamp custom made now.

I didn't initially see it as an 'E', but it's the only thing that makes phonetic sense. The faint outlines of the serifs confuse the picture.

 

Saw that. And here's an early 1847 reference to Bullier at the same address. Describes him as a "menuisier" which the internet translates to "joiner."

https://books.google.com/books?id=O...=onepage&q=bullier rue des marais art&f=false

Debora

 

I was thinking framing might be among their services.

 

He might have produced the printing block.

Debora

 

At any rate, given the text on the back ("page,") yours appears to be an engraved printer's block for an early- to mid-Victorian religious text.

Debora

 

Next word looks like feuille, so fairly modern binding method.

 

The block itself was clearly not made in the 15th century, but Bullier were not artists, so possible artwork was copied from the illustration in a much older Bible.