36 - Monogramist bxg, Coat of arms of the Von Rohrbach and Von Holzhausen families. Post 1470 [printed in 1856]. Engraving. 92x92 mm. Sheet: 135x96 mm. Lehrs, VIII, 40. Shestack, 140. With the monogram “bxg” on the plate at the bottom center. According to Lehrs, the engraving is based on a lost drawing by the Master of the House Book (Hausbuchmeister). Initially, the engraving was interpreted as a celebration of the 1466 marriage between Bernhard von Rohrbach and Adelgunde von Holzhausen. However, the von Holzhausen family—an ancient and noble German patrician house originally from Hesse, established in Frankfurt am Main since the 13th century—did not adopt the helmet featured in their coat of arms until 1470. It is therefore presumed that the print was commissioned by the couple’s son as an ex libris. When the engraved plate was rediscovered in 1856 in the Holzhausen family archives in Frankfurt, a large print run was produced, of which this copy is a part. This engraving also serves as the primary evidence for situating the work of Master bxg in the Frankfurt area. Excellent impression on laid paper without a watermark. Bibliography: Alan Shestack (ed.), Fifteenth-Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, 1967. (1) Copy with margins of approximately 2 mm on the sides and 18/20 mm at the top and bottom. Mounted at the top with two staples within a modern cardboard mount. Slight traces of transverse creases; minimal paper residue at the top of the reverse side.