The 500-year-old print, one of Dürer’s most famous and influential works, is from the original copper plate engraved by Dürer in 1513.
Measuring 245x191mm, the print is one of his three ‘Meisterstiche’, ‘master prints’, and has been the subject of critical acclaim and widespread copying since its completion, with original prints in top condition fetching up to £150,000-£200,000.
Sold for a premium-inclusive total of £33,390 – £26,500 hammer price – to a German collector on 18 September, it surpassed its guide price of £10,000-£20,000.
The print escaped ruin in 2011 when the then 11-year-old Mat Winter spied it at the tip: “I’ve had an eye for antiques since I was 10 years old, and I used to go to the local rubbish tip to see what I could find. One day a lady had some rubbish in her car including the print. I thought it looked interesting and asked if I could have it.
“She was more than happy to give it to me because she wanted it to go to someone rather than just throwing it away. I was 11 at the time and very happy she let me take it.”
Tucked away in a shed, the print sat for 13 years before Winter decided to have it evaluated, taking it to Jim Spencer, director of Rare Book Auctions.
“When I removed the bubble wrap, I knew instantly that it was right,” Spencer told Printweek.
“I was absolutely bowled over by the quality. It was in an old frame, dating about 1900, but I just knew immediately from the skill of engraving that it had to be the hand of Dürer himself. In my mind, I just kept thinking: in 1500, they must have thought Dürer was superhuman, or from another planet. It’s just phenomenal.”
Corroborating his hunch with experts at the British Museum, Spencer examined the print carefully against other original copies and the extensive academic research into the work.
“It matched every tiny detail, down to the pebbles on the floor, and every little curled line. We were checking it against the scholarly journals – seriously academic stuff – and one mentioned this very, very faint scratch on the plate over the horse’s head as a measure of identifying how early or late the impression was [in the copper plate’s life],” he explained.
“If it was a stronger mark, it would be a very early impression; if it was weak, it would be in the middle of the plate’s life; and if it was gone, it was a later print.
“The moment I got the glass up against the horse’s head and saw the scratch, I started jumping around the room.”
Two other copies of the print that have the scratch are found in New York’s Metropolitan Museum’s collection.
“That sealed it: not only was it right and authentic, but it was a good, early print,” Spencer said.
