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*** This week I will be listing some very interesting engravings and other historic items from my collection, which I have begun selling on eBay. If you'd like to see some of the others, please click on "view seller's other items" (which you will find at the top of this page). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CENTURY-OLD PHOTOGRAVURE (original) * * * * * Beautifully Detailed Portrait of BRITISH COLONIAL TROOPS * * * * * “Sons of the Blood†* * * * * This fantastic antique photogravure, printed 108 years ago, is a very patriotic British image, showing troops from around the Empire rallying to the flag of Mother England. The troops, representing over two dozen different units that had fought for Britain in the just completed BoerWar, are all dressed in their own very distinctive uniforms. Below this image, titled “Sons of the Blood,†is a stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s classic poem, “A Song of the English,†from which the title of this photogravure was taken: "This for the waxen Heath, and that for the Wattle-bloom. "This for the Maple-leaf, and that for the southern Broom. "The Law that ye make shall be law and I do not press my will, "Because ye are Sons of the Blood and call me Mother still." In the center of this image, on a rock ledge, sitting erect on a beautiful horse and holding aloft the Union Jack is a British cavalryman, while standing all around are members of various colonial units, all cheering the flag. The colonial forces represented in this image are (counter-clockwise): Transkei Mounted Rifles Canadian Dragoons Canadian 5th Royal Scots New Zealand Mounted Rifles Rimington’s Guides (South Africa) Canadian Roughriders Australian Bushmen New South Wales Lancers Canadian Artillery Canadian Infantry New Zealand Mounted Infantry Victorian Mounted Rifles Queensland Mounted Rifles Natal Carbineers Imperial Light Horse (South Africa) West Australian Infantry Lumsden’s Horse (India) New South Wales Mounted Rifles Cape Mounted Rifles South Australian Mounted Rifles Rhodesian Horse Cape Mounted Police South African Light Horse Ceylon Mounted Infantry Prince Alfred’s Guards (South Africa) Cape Town Highlanders South Australian Cavalry Natal Mounted Rifles This sepia-toned photogravure, measuring 15 inches high by 10 inches wide, is in exceptionally nice condition and this 108-year-old print will make an outstanding display piece. This antique print is guaranteed ORIGINAL – IT IS GENUINE, NOT A REPRINT OR REPRODUCTION OF ANY SORT! It was made in 1900 and guaranteed not to be a later reprint or reproduction of any kind. I’m a longtime collector, not a dealer, and over the past 45 years I have collected a great variety of historical memorabilia. After retiring, I decided it was time to sell some of the items from my various collections, and I have found eBay a very good way to reach other collectors who might be interested in some of these. Please see my “feedback†for how others have evaluated the quality of items from my collection that I have previously sold on eBay. A Word of Caution: I have noticed for some time now an ever increasing number of reprints and reproductions being offered on eBay. Sometimes they are described as such, and priced accordingly, and I applaud those sellers for their honesty. Although I have personally always collected original engravings and prints, there is certainly a legitimate market for reproductions as long as people know what they are getting! But it is clear from the very careful, but also very misleading wording used by some sellers that they are deliberately trying to present a reprint as an original. (This second type of seller may not meet eBay’s definition of “fraud,†but they meet mine!) Yet equally dangerous to the buyer who doesn’t know a lot about antique engravings are the sellers who themselves don’t know enough about these items to realize that what they’ve got isn’t an original – they sincerely believe that because the print they’ve got is old, and the paper is browned with age, it must be an original! These people are not dishonest, but their assurance of an item’s authenticity is nonetheless worth little more than the “original†items they are selling. Now eBay sales clearly state “caveat emptor,†but that, of course, is easier said than done! Unless you are an expert yourself, you often have to trust that the seller knows his/her field, and is also honest in describing items. Every item I have sold on eBay is from my own collection, and I guarantee it is genuine. Many of the items I’ve sold have gone to museums, art dealers, and very knowledgeable collectors – these people know genuine from reproduction! And as far as condition goes, I think that the comments buyers have made in my “feedback†file are a better indication of the quality of the items I've collected than anything I could say myself. ---- PAYMENT AND SHIPPING Payment may be made by PayPal, by money order or by personal check, but I reserve the right to delay shipping while a check clears, which can take quite a while in my area. INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS: Foreign/overseas shipping is not a problem, BUT please consider before you bid that:Shipments outside the United States have to be at your own risk, as items can’t be insured when sent by regular overseas airmail – an item can ONLY be insured if sent by a much more expensive overseas airpost method.Payment from international bidders will only be accepted via PayPal (unless some other arrangement has been made prior to bidding). IN ALL CASES, BUYER PAYS ONLY ACTUAL SHIPPING COSTS! This item will be shipped in several layers of cardboard for protection. Because of the resultant weight and the size of the package, Priority Mail is the best (and also fastest) way to send this. For this package, the cost for Priority Mail, with Tracking, is $5.45 postage (which includes no “handling charge†or any such nonsense, just my ACTUAL postage cost). In the event the postage costs more than this, as it sometimes does, I will keep things simple and just pay the difference myself. [International mailing via air will cost between $4 and $9, depending upon destination.] I go to the Post Office on Tuesdays and Fridays, so shipping always occurs within 1 to 3 days of receipt of payment. Within a short time after an auction ends, I email winners the shipping costs and other information, followed up immediately by an invoice. Any questions, please email before bidding. Thanks! ---- A WORD ABOUT THE SCANSMost of my scans are done at low resolution so that they won't take forever to come up on the computer screen, but this is at the expense of often not doing any real justice to the items I’m offering – as a result my scans are often a bit weak and blurred, and don’t show much detail. However, this antique print is of very high quality, quite clear and very detailed! Please see my “FEEDBACK†for buyers’ comments regarding the QUALITY of the items I’ve previously sold from my collection. --- IF ANY OF THE PICTURES BELOW DO NOT APPEAR, PLEASE HIT YOUR "RELOAD" BUTTON AND THAT SHOULD DO IT! THE ABOVE SCAN LOOKS DISCOLORED AND ALL 3 SCANS ARE BLURRED, BUT THIS ANTIQUE PHOTOGRAVURE IS SHARP AND CLEAN, ALMOST PHOTOGRAPHIC IN QUALITY Powered by eBay Turbo ListerThe free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items.
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