“Waiting for the Tide”, Vignette Progress Proof on india on card, ABNCo 1862

This item is an original vignette progress proof on india paper die sunk on card from the American Bank Note Company, dated 1862. The central engraving depicts a bearded sailor resting against a wooden pier or dock structure. He wears traditional nineteenth-century maritime attire, including a wide-brimmed sailor’s hat and loose white trousers and shirt. In the background, a large masted sailing ship and a smaller sailboat are visible on the water. The artist’s handwritten or engraved year “1862” is clearly visible in the lower right center of the vignette’s base.

The engraving was executed by Frederick Girsch (1821–1895), a German-born artist and steel-plate engraver who emigrated to New York in 1849. Girsch was highly active in bank note and stamp production during the mid-to-late nineteenth century, working extensively for firms like the National Bank Note Company and the American Bank Note Company. He specialized in creating intricate historical, allegorical, and portrait vignettes, which functioned both as security artwork and anti-counterfeiting measures for early paper currency and securities.

The American Banknote Company (ABNC) and its predecessor companies engraved and printed many of the world’s classic stamps, banknotes and securities. Although it traces its origins into the 1700s, the company as we know it was formed in 1858 by the consolidation of six leading engraving com­panies, including Danforth, Perkins & Co., Bald, Cousland and Co, Toppan, Carpenter and Co., John E. Gavit, Jocelyn, Draper, Welsh & Co., Wellstood, Hanks, Hay & Whiting and Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson. Over the years, ABNC acquired various security printers, including Hamilton and Continental Banknote Companies, Security Banknote Co. and many others. Collectors of Proofs and Essays will recognize many of these names as the leading engravers of 19th Century stamps. The ABNC continued its leadership role well into the 20th Century, designing and en­graving stamps, banknotes and stock certificates for countries and corporations all over the world. The original ABNC archives were sold in the early 1990s. Most of those items have been absorbed into individual collections and have become eagerly sought-after treasures.

Note: this is an ORIGINAL india proof; not a reproduction or contemporary print. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.