Prints from the Louvre Chalcographie .

These prints were issued by the Chalcographie du Louvre, one of the oldest still-operating print workshops in the world. It was founded in 1797 to preserve, publish, and distribute engravings from the French national copper-plate collection.

These prints are pulled directly from historic copper plates held by the Louvre, using traditional intaglio methods (typically etching, engraving, aquatint, or combinations), often printed on high-quality rag paper. Many plates date from the 17th–19th centuries.

These are hand-colored intaglio etching/aquatints, probably late 19th or early 20th century in origin, but printed later as part of the Louvre’s authorised posthumous impressions. The color appears to be applied with light hand-tinting, which was a common practice for these Louvre editions in the 20th century.

Chalcographie du Louvre authorized impressions of some of Védard’s etchings. This means:

1. The Louvre owns the original copper plate (or acquired it after Védard’s death).

2. Prints were pulled directly from this plate by the Louvre’s print studio.

3. The embossed Louvre seal confirms this as a legitimate, museum-issued impression.

4. The soft watercolor-style tones are almost certainly hand-tinting, typical of 20th-century Louvre editions.