What is this Charles Henry Pille Etching?

I purchased this charming etching at a thrift store near Palm Springs, CA, USA.

It measures 12.5" tall, 9.5" wide, has a strong plate mark and is signed Henri Pille on the plate.

The name of the artist is written in pencil (last name, first) on the lower left along with the artists years of life. The title is "Lansquinet", which is the French spelling of Landsknecht, a type of German soldier for hire. There is a marking that says it is the First State of the print. There are two marks at the top, one on either side of the image -- "798" on the top left and "783" on the top right. There is a blue/green "EM" stamp on the back.

I am thrilled to have found this. He is a known 19th century Montmartre artist whose work was shown at the Salon, his paintings and drawings are in museums. He had the admiration of Van Gogh and it is very charming.

But what is it exactly?

• Is it considered an original or a copy?
• Is it an "original etching" as the EM stamp suggests, even though it wasn't signed by the artist?
• Were the marks on the bottom, the name, dates, etc. made by the artist, by a dealer or by a collector?
• Does it have value and importance, or is it merely an illustration torn from a book?

Photos here: https://imgur.com/a/8V2TBGP

 

Looks like someone did some research on it. I expect the notes are by a third party. It says "Etat C", which I think would mean third state. Looks like it's from the plate, as in not a reproduction. Don't know about the corner numbers. They might be a date reference, or placement in a publication. I doubt it has great value, but it's a nice image.

 

I read "1er État C". No idea what that C means. If I understood the texts I found describing other artworks correctly, "1er État" means the original version of the plate was used.

EM = Estampes Moderne?

 

Written by someone who didn't know that the artist's name is with an i and not with an y

 

Someone making a print might pull some copies, then decide to rework the plate a bit, pull some more copies, maybe change something or try different lighting...like that. So you can have several slightly differing versions of the same image. These are called different states. Sometimes the progress of an image can be traced through the different states out there. This could be the third pass at an original plate, but I don't know for sure.

 

In texts like this one https://israel.silvestre.fr/actes/94-Faucheux.pdf they have 1er/2e/3e état for the different states. Didn't find any reference to states with the combination of the number and a letter, but maybe I didn't search long enough

 

@Ex Libris ....... thoughts?

 

As far as I can judge from a photo it looks legit to me. You clearly cam see the platemark of an etching (the embossed area around the picture). But many of these prints have been reissued after the life of the artist. The EM stamp could suggest a later reprint made by the original copper plate.

The subject is very interesting. The “Landsknechten” where mercenaries from Central Europe (South of Germany/Switserland from the early 16th century. Human peacocks .

 

So far as the subject matter is concerned: I'd guess it's someone (likely a mercenary) off to the wars, waving goodbye to his loved ones. These days, of course, they're called "private contractors".

 

Thank you all so much for the valuable information! Does anyone know anything more about the EM mark on the back of the etching? I'm having a hard time attaching it but you can see the mark here: https://imgur.com/a/LTqBgrY.

 

Are U a NEW MEMBER, just found this site,LOOK HERE 1st ....

 

Don't know if it's the same EM with a different kind of stamp, but:
Here https://blog.chasenantiques.com/2009/07/29/how-can-you-tell-an-etching-is-authentic/comment-page-3/ someone mentions an embossed stamp "L.Icart on top of a circle with Paris embossed below. Within the circle are what appears to be a capital E and M."
And another replies: "the EM stamp is from Estampes Moderne, the printer."

 

Thanks!

I saw that too and wrote to the author of the blog. He said he's only an expert in Icart and wished me luck. Thank you for writing back though. The mystery continues!