A Rare pair of Early 18th Century English Copper Engravings of Grand English Estates

By Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff
1720
57 x 70cm
Johannes “Jan” Kip Amsterdam 1652 – 1722
Jan Kip was a Dutch draftsman, engraver and print dealer.
Kip and Leonard Knyff, made a speciality of engraved aerial views of English country houses and estates.
Personally, I find his work astounding and so ahead of his time.
Kip remains my favourite of all architectural artists.

*Maison du Seigneur
*Burlington House Pickadilly

Kip was a pupil of Bastiaen Stopendaal (1636–1707), from 1668 to 1670, before setting up on his own; his earliest dated engravings are from 1672. In April 1680, at the age of 27, he married Elisabeth Breda in Amsterdam.[1] After producing works for the court of William of Orange in Amsterdam, Kip followed William and Mary to London and settled in St. John Street in Farringdon, where he conducted a thriving printselling business. He also worked for various London publishers producing engravings after such artists as Francis Barlow (c. 1626–1704) and Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630–1700), largely for book illustrations. He made several engraved plates for Awnsham & John Churchill’s A Collection of Voyages & Travels (first published 1704). He signed the African scenes in volume V of the 1732 edition as “J. Kip”.

His most important works were the large fold-out folio illustrations for Britannia Illustrata, 1708; for the 65 folio plates he engraved for the antiquary Sir Robert Atkyns, The Ancient and Present State of Glostershire, 1712 (1st edition); and for Le Nouveau Théâtre de la Grande Bretagne ou description exacte des palais de la Reine, et des Maisons les plus considerables des des Seigneurs & des Gentilshommes de la Grande Bretagne, 1715, an extended reprint in collaboration with other artists.