Featured Valuing two 19th century, French etchings

JMHO. mass-produced, probably in Asnière sur Seine where Goupil had a factory and workshops. made for the growing market of middle class buyers.
the Berlin branch was opened in 1861 - which would be good.
"New York Published by M. Knoedler" makes me think they were not bought in France.

 

Best possibility I've seen.

I thought perhaps it was a common/known theme, but not as I've found.

 

I'm sorry, that's inaccurate -- it should say "ONLY possibility I've seen."

 

They seem to be large, which suggests that they were marketed as decorative pieces rather than illustrating a book or magazine. Given that each involves the same people, and the similarity of design, it's likely they were published simultaneously and meant to be paired.

Lepoittevin might have been commissioned by Goupil to produce these images specifically to be engraved, but it's all a lot of "possible" and "maybe".

Steel plate engravings don't get a much respect. In the majority of cases they are copies of paintings, published for the mass market of their day, before color printing became common. Poor man's art. I'm always impressed by the technical proficiency of the engravers and certainly have enough prints of this sort, but one of the reasons I have so many is because they are so inexpensive.

The Skinner sale price is not surprising (although I would have expected a bit more).