Bidspirit auction | Decorative allegorical page, showing a

Decorative allegorical page, showing a globe oriented towards America - An exquisite frontispiece engraving from Thomas Salmon's Hedendaagsche Historie, of Tegenwoordige Staat van America, a seminal work on the contemporary state of the Americas. The composition features a seafaring allegorical figure presenting a globe to a feathered man holding a cornucopia. In the foreground, a putto bearing the attributes of Mercury holds a portrait of Christopher Columbus, while another putto on the right displays a Spanish flag, underscoring the colonial influence of Spain in the Americas. The lower margin contains a five-line Dutch inscription, providing additional context. Signed and dated at the bottom by J.C. Philips, the artist, this engraving was published by Isaak Tirion, a distinguished Dutch publisher renowned for his historical works and geographical maps in 18th-century Amsterdam. This finely crafted image not only exemplifies the artistic standards of the era but also reflects the European perspective on the Americas during the Age of Exploration. Size of sheet: 20.5 cm (height) x 12.5 cm (width), 8 x 5 inch.