CALCOGRAPHIE ROYALE DE J. GROUBAUD AFTER PEETERMANS (EARLY-MID 19TH CENTURY)
Top-Hane; Constantinople
handcoloured lithographs
23 x 36 cm (ea.)
together with two further engravings to include a panaramic view of Jerusalem and Caravane Et Ordre Suivi Par Les Turcs Dans Leur Voyage......
22.5 x 35.5; 33.5 x 39 cm (respectivley) (4)

Two plates from Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore (Antoine Ignace Melling)Antoine Ignace Melling, born 1763, artist and voyager, trained in architecture and painting. At the age of 19, he went to Constantinople as part of the Russian Ambassador's retinue. After successfully completing several commissions for Hatice Sultan, the sister of Selim III, which included the renovation and landscaping of her palace at Ortakeï, Melling was employed as the Sultan's architect in 1795. His position as royal architect gave him a privileged opportunity to observe the Ottoman court, and during his eighteen years there, Melling made many detailed drawings of the sultan's palaces, Ottoman society, and Constantinople. Having completed various projects for Selim III, Melling returned to Paris in 1803. The lithographic reproductions of Melling's Voyage pittoresque (50 plates) were lithographed at the Calcographie Royale de J. Groubaud after Peetermans, Lauters, Plou, Lemonnier and/or Delpierre.