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The Royal Württemberg stud, the first Arabian stud in Europe, with 18 views of its horses

KUNTZ, Rudolf.
Abbildungen Königlich Württembergischer Gestütts Pferde von orientalischen Racen
Stuttgart, Ebner, 1823-1824. Oblong folio. With a lithographed title-page, lithographed dedication and 18 tinted chalk lithographs by L. Ekeman-Allesson after R. Kuntz, accompanied by 3 pages of letterpress text. Stored in a modern suede leather case.
€ 65,000
First and only edition, commissioned by the board of the Württemberg stud, the first Arabian stud farm in Europe. This almost unobtainable series of large format plates shows the studs full-blooded Arabian horses with decorative oriental backgrounds. The plates constitute extremely early examples of chalk lithographs (listed individually by Winkler, Frühzeit der dt. Lithographie, 180, 57). Kuntz (1797-1848) was known for his "excellent depictions of horses" (Thieme-Becker); throughout his brief career he studied thoroughbreds in England, Hungary and Paris as well as in Germany. In 1832 he became Painter to the Court of Karlsruhe, Baden; he suffered a stroke in 1846 and died in the newly-founded Illenau mental hospital. The present series was issued in three parts, from 1823 to 1824, each with 6 chalk lithographs. Wenceslaus Rzewusky wrote the descriptions of the horses. Of the utmost rarity, no copy of the complete series with all three parts as present here traceable in auction records. Nissen 2327; Thieme-Becker X, 444 & XXII, 116; Winkler, Die Frühzeit der dt. Lithographie 180.57; WorldCat (1 copy, at UB Utrecht, lacking 1 plate).
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Horses, hunting, sport & games  >  Drawings, Photographs, Prints & Watercolours | Horses & Horsemanship