Vue d'Optique (Perspective View) of the Hague

Copperplate Engraving shows shipbuilding activity in the harbor
It was engraved and handcolored in the late 18th or early 19th Century

The text in French reads: Vue Perspective du Bassin et Parc de La Marine du Havre
Dimensions (full sheet): 52 X 35 cm

$200

The tear here is folded back to show it,
But does not show as much when the flat is folded back down as it
would be once this is framed.

Perspective Views (vue perspective, vue d'optique or in German, Guckkastenblättern) were meant to be seen with a special viewer to enhance the three dimensional effect. They were very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were designed according to strict principles of linear perspective, with a distant object placed in the center of the print, as is the case with this example. Viewed through a special "machine," the three dimensional effect was enhanced. The colors of these wonderful old prints are often bright and naive, as for children's illustrations.