Amsterdam, the artist, [1913]. Single folio leaf (31.0 x 21.6 cm; printed surface 24.5 x 17.7 cm). Printed on one side and signed in pencil, Mesquita.

A fine, original woodcut print, signed by the artist, the Dutch graphic artist, craftsman and painter Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (Amsterdam, 6 June 1868 - Auschwitz, 11 February 1944). The print, known in Dutch as "Markhorgeit (Zittend hert in een kooi)" [Markhor goat (Sitting deer in a cage)], depicts a goat species - also known as screw-horn goat - from the Himalayas, Pakistan and Afghanistan, resting in a stable, on a floor strewn with hay. Another, slightly different copy is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Apparently, there are two editions. The other print has the author's monogram in the upper right, with the date [19]13 added. In that version, the hay on the floor is engraved more schematically. The present copy probably represents an (unknown?) early state. In 1915, De Mesquita made another, very different, woodcut of this goat species. De Mesquita was best known for his "sensitivistic drawings", bizarre, often caricatural depictions. He would continue to make them for the rest of his life. He is also known as a teacher and friend of the famous Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. De Mesquita was deported to Auschwitz on 1 February 1944, where he was presumably killed by the Nazis immediately upon arrival" (cf. Dutch Wikipedia). With the artist's monogram in the top left corner, and his signature, in pencil, in the lower right margin, just below the printed surface. An excellent, clean copy. Rare, especially in this outstanding state.