Knights of the Garter in procession. Etching by R. Cooper, 1782, after A. van Dyck, 1639.

London (Edward Street Cavendish Square) : Published as the Act directs ... by Richard Cooper, July 7, 1782.

1 print : etching ; two plates: left platemark approximately 35.2 x 66.6 cm, right platemark approximately 35.3 x 66.8 cm

The procession of the knights of the most noble Order of the Garter from the original design of Vandyck painted in chiaro oscuro upon board of this size in the possession of the right honourable the Earl of Northington. La procession des chevaliers du très-noble ordre de la jarretière d'après le dessein original de Vandyck peint de cette grandeur en clair obscur dans le cabinet du très-noble le comte de Northington. Antonius Vandyck eques pinxit MDCXXXIX ; Ricardus Cooper sculpsit MDCCLXXXII Engraved lettering on a trompe l'oeil ledge running along the bottom of the design (called "the basement" in the lettering). Further letter-press lettering on three labels pasted on the sheet. The central one says "The procession of the knights of the most noble Order of the Garter. To the right honourable the Earl of Northington this plate engraved from Vandike's celebrated design in his lordship's collection which was intended to have been painted for the Banqueting House at Whitehall is dedicated by his lordship's most obliged and most obed.t serv.t Rich.d Cooper". The label below the left half of the print identifies the persons, while the label below the right half lists the knights and officers of the Order

[State without aquatint and with lettering on one line, supplemented by separate labels].

Advertised in the Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser 12 April 1782 p. 2, as follows: "Vandike. To be published in a few days, by Richard Cooper, price one guinea. A print from the original design of Sir Andrew Vandike, painted in chiaro oscura, representing the procession of the knights of the most noble Order of the Garter, in the collection of the Right Hon. the Earl of Northington, which was intended to have been painted for the banquetting house at Whitehall, in the reign of that great patron of the fine arts, King Charles the First, of which particular mention is made by the Hon. Mr Horace Walpole, in his Anecdotes of painting. The size of the print is four feet six inches long by one foot four inches high, the same as the original, and to imitate it the more exactly, it will be partly done with aqua tinta. A few of the etchings are printed off at the same price for those collectors who may be desirous to have the work in both states; and also a few copies on English Imperial for colouring. The length of the print making it necessary to be engraved on two plates, the impressions may be had either separate for port folios, or joined for framing. A printed explanation of the piece, with a list of the knights and officers of the Order, who lived at that period, will be delivered with the prints, to give connoisseurs an opportunity of tracing out the portraits. Subscriptions continue to be taken in at R. Cooper's, no. 24, Edward Street Cavendish-Square, where the prints (finished) may be seen, and where may be had his views of Rome and other works."

Antony Griffiths, The print before photography : an introduction to European printmaking, 1550-1820, London: The British Museum Press, 2016, p. 420 (on framing this print)

Wellcome Collection 582150i

After: an oil sketch on wood by Van Dyck, ca. 1638, for a tapestry which was was not executed. The sketch was retained by Charles I and sold for £5 in the sale of the Royal collections in 1650. Accepted by the British government in lieu of tax from the estate of the 10th Duke of Rutland and allocated to the Ashmolean Museum Oxford in 2002 (information from Ashmolean display label)