Haakbusschutter

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

Created in 1860, Jean-Baptiste Meunier’s “Haakbusschutter” is an etching that measures just over 30 by 21 centimeters. The title refers to a hook-gun shooter, a figure drawn from earlier military history that held particular fascination for nineteenth-century audiences. Rendered at this intimate scale, the print encourages quiet, close looking, allowing viewers to follow the fine lines that define costume and pose. Etching offered artists of the period an accessible way to explore such subjects with precision and tonal richness. The process, involving acid biting into a metal plate, produces the crisp yet lively marks seen here, making the work both reproducible and collectible. A stamped collector’s mark (Lugt 2228) on the reverse further records its passage through private hands, reminding us that prints like this often traveled widely and were prized for both study and enjoyment. Together, the subject, technique, and provenance speak to a moment when historical imagery and printmaking intersected to bring the past vividly into the present.

About the Artist

Jean-Baptiste Meunier · 1821–1900

Jean-Baptiste Meunier (1821–1900) was a distinguished Belgian painter, draftsman, and engraver whose career exemplified the high technical standards of 19th-century European printmaking. Born on July 28, 1821, in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (a commune of Brussels) and dying on February 6, 1900, in Ixelles, Meunier was a central figure in Belgian artistic culture, connected to important artistic families ...