c. 1865-1870 Civil War Era, Unique Period Mammoth Size 26.5" tall x 40" wide, on four solid Hand-Carved 1” thick joined wood boards engraved as a likely Printing Woodblock, Very Fine.
This unique artistically hand-carved four-board horizontally joined panel is assembled with tight edge joints. It is like nothing we have seen or offered previously. It can certainly be displayed as a Civil War artwork having extensive expert engravings within the wood. The engraved flat surfaces would suggest possibly intended and useable as a giant woodblock printing plate in the Kurz & Allison style, depicting a climatic battle scene, possibly Gettysburg. There is no date, place, artist, or specific information present. The plain aged plank wood back having a number of unknown reason. The scene depicts smoke bellowing from cannons, with a number of riflemen firing at body of charging infantry opponents. The dead and wounded soldiers and a dead horse are shown in the foreground, with lots of battle action taking place overall. The engraved board is black with white chalk highpoints which stand out clearly as shown. There are a few trivial fine separations and some expected bumps to the outer edges to the boards, a slight shrinkage crack attesting to its age, and its eye appeal should absolutely be considered as an impressive addition to any Civil War collection.