FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (1746-1828), Out hunting for teeth (A caza de dientes) Plate 12 from: Los Caprichos

FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (1746-1828)
Out hunting for teeth (A caza de dientes)
Plate 12 from: Los Caprichos
etching with burnished aquatint, drypoint and engraving, on laid paper, a very good impression from the First Edition, published by the artist, Madrid, 1799, the intricate burnishing on the woman’s dress and the ground beneath her well delineated, framed
Plate: 8³⁄₈ x 5⁷⁄₈ in. (213 x 149 mm.)
Sheet: 11³⁄₄ x 8 in. (298 x 203 mm.)

Presumably Manuel Fernández Durán y Pando, Marqués de Perales del Río (1818-1886), Madrid.
Don Pedro Fernández-Durán (1846-1930), Madrid; with his stamp (Lugt 747b); presumably by descent from the above.
Don Tomas de la Maza y Saavedra (1896-1975); gift from the above.
With Herman Shickman Fine Arts, New York.
With Stuart Denenberg, Los Angeles.
Private American Collection; acquired from the above.

Delteil 49; Harris 47

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Lot Essay

‘Here a young woman pulls the teeth from a hanged man because of their value in sorcery. She stands on tip-toes and covers her face in fear. Goya uses the aquatint and contrasting white ground of the paper to great effect in creating dramatic nocturnal effects. Goya treated the subject of superstition and witchcraft in a number of prints in the series. A manuscript dating to around 1799-1803, provides explanations for each plate. The explanation for this plate reads 'The teeth of a hanged man are very efficacious for sorceries; without this ingredient there is not much you can do. What a pity the common people should believe such nonsense.'

Website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.