Lot 205: A SET OF THREE FRENCH ARCHITECTURAL ENGRAVINGS

A SET OF THREE FRENCH ARCHITECTURAL ENGRAVINGS
BY ANDRE DUTERTRE (1753-1842), FIRST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Comprising three plates from the Description de l'Egypte ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui on étét faites en Egypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française', depicting a perspective view of the ruins at Memphis by Lorieux after Jollois and Devilliers; a view of the island of Philae by Delignon; and élévations et coupes of Denderah (Tentyris) by Louvet after Jollois and Devilliers, each within a parcel-gilt and ebonised later frame
The first: 17¼ x 23½ in. (44 x 59.5 cm.) [without frame] and 27½ x 34½ in. (70 x 87.5 cm.) [with frame]; the second: 17½ x 23½ in. (44.5 x 59.5 cm.) [without frame] and 28¼ x 34 (71.5 x 86.5 cm.) [with frame]; the third: 26½ x 18 in. (67cm. x 46 cm.) [without frame] and 33 x 25 in. (84 cm. x 63½ cm.) [with frame] (3)

Description de l'Egypte is the first comprehensive description of ancient and modern Egypt, compiled by the 165 members of the Institut de l'Égypte established by Napoleon to accompany his expedition to Egypt (1798-1801). Rarely has such a huge amount of information been gathered in such a short time and under such difficult circumstances. 'The egyptologists of the 19th century owed their knowledge of ancient Egypt to the efforts of the engineers who described the monuments of antiquity, and it was in the plates of the Description that these were revealed' (Navari/Blackmer catalogue, p. 104).