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Overview
The Dutch printmaker Marcus de Bye (also de Bije/ de Bie) is little-known in relation to his talent and prolificness. He was born in The Hague in 1639 and died after 1688. He became a pupil of Jacob van der Does in 1658. Better known as an engraver and etcher than a painter, he engraved several series of animal studies after the famous but short-lived painter Paulus Potter and also produced a number of original engravings.
This etching is Plate 16 and the final one in the series called, for obvious reasons, Sheep. It is an approproiate one on which to end. There is definitely whimsical humour in the way that the sheep emerges from the well-worn stable, and is baa-ing, presumably in welcome, of the approaching farmer. Te Papa currently has three prints in the series, plates 5, 7 and 16. All of them were presented to the Colonial Museum by Bishop Ditlev Monrad in 1869.
See: British Museum Collection online, https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3063642&partId=1&searc hText=De+Bye+sheep+plate+16&page=1
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art April 2019