Original etching and drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper.

A 17th century/lifetime impression of Bartsch, Usticke and New Hollstein’s second and final state of this rare etching (characterized by G.W. Nowell-Usticke in his 1967 catalogue Rembrandt’s Etchings: States and Values as “a scarce arched landscape,” and assigned his scarcity rating of “R” [75-125 impressions extant in that year]), printed after the addition of shading to the cottage and paling behind the wheelbarrow at the right, showing touches of burr along the lower edge.

Catalog: Bartsch 227 ii/ii; Hind 243; Biorklund-Barnard 50-3; Usticke 227 ii/ii; New Hollstein 249 ii/ii.

3 5/16 x 6 3/8 inches / Framed size: 17 x 19 3/8 inches

Provenance: Nathaniel Smith (British, c. 1740-1809), a well-known London sculptor and Old Master print-dealer and collector with fifty years in business, bearing his paraph (Lugt 1988) by hand in ink verso; also bearing an unidentified collection stamp (the letters "FH" in red ink) verso.

Collections in which impressions of this state of this etching can be found: Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin-Dahlem; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Städelsches Kunst institut, Frankfurt-on-Main; Teylers Stichting, Haarlem; Ermitage Museum, Leningrad; The British Museum, London; Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Duthuit Collection, Petit Palais, Paris; Collection Edmond de Rothschild, Musée du Louvre, Paris; Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna.

During Rembrandt’s day in the hamlet of Spieringshorn, where between ten and fifteen cottages lay spread along the foot of the dyke, the most remarkable feature one would have encountered were two hardstone obelisks, that functioned as boundary stones. They had been placed there by the Amsterdam city council to mark the official boundary. The older obelisk closer to the city dated from 1559; after the extension of 1610-14 a new boundary stone was erected in 1624, further away from the city.

This well-known etching by Rembrandt traditionally known as “The Obelisk” is based on drawings he made of this second boundary stone in its setting. In the center of the etching we see a thatched cottage and we just glimpse the front wall of the fore-house, with its door and window above it, and the extended king-post. The brick chimney, marking the division between the dwelling section and the barn, has a cap construction presumably against the rain and probably also has a starling pot. The construction of the barn section of the cottage isn’t completely clear. At the back the roof is somewhat raised to accommodate a doorway that carts can drive through; above this is a perch for pigeons. On this side the roof slopes down until it is close to the ground. The obelisk commands at least as much attention as the cottage.