Chris at his stand at the London Original Print Fair, circa 2019 © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Christopher Mendez (1943-2025) was one of the most respected and well-liked print dealers of his generation. A true Londoner, Chris – as everybody called him – was born and raised in Homerton, Hackney, into a working class family. His mother looked after the children and house and worked part-time as a secretary, his father managed the local Dolcis shoe shop. Chris left grammar school aged 16. His first cultural influences - apart from the sheer diversity and hustle and bustle of East London - probably came from his brother Theo, who was ten years older and an artist, who ran the textiles department at the Camberwell College of Arts. Theo was a free spirit who took his younger brother to galleries and museums but also to jazz concerts. Apart from the visual arts, music was to become one of Chris’s enduring passions.

When it came to finding a first job, Chris – more by coincidence than intent – began his career as an assistant in the department for works on paper at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Without a higher education, there was clearly no hope of a museum career but this first introduction to the art world, in combination with his curious mind and excellent visual memory, gave Chris the necessary prerequisites for a junior position at Sotheby’s, where he worked under the legendary Mr Wilder in the Prints Department. The two must have made a rather comical pair: Chris, young, tall and lanky; and Tim Wilder (1893-1993), then already ancient (he never retired) and tiny – allegedly he had to stand on a table to reach the upper shelves of the department library. Enviably, to be trained up as a print specialist at Sotheby’s at the time entailed spending one month looking at prints in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Despite such perks, Chris did not last long, as “the pay was rotten”. He was lured by a better salary to work for the Folio Society, sourcing prints – mainly French 19th century lithographs - to sell to the members of the book club. After a short stint there and knowing that he had found his profession, in 1965 he decided to start his own business and began trading in prints from his flat in Holborn. He later set up shop in Soho, then an affordable and very bohemian part of London; first in Great Pulteney Street and later in Lexington Street, opposite his good friend Andrew Edmunds’ premises, who delt in British prints and caricatures.

Chris specialised in Old Master Prints but, unlike many of his contemporaries, was less interested in the famous ‘trophy pieces’ by Dürer and Rembrandt. Although he had an unerring sense for quality and appreciated fine impressions of important subjects by the great masters, he concentrated on rare, visually compelling prints by lesser-known printmakers. Making a virtue out of necessity - as a young dealer with limited means – he sought unusual prints in overlooked places, such as old booksellers and country auctions. As he reminisced, in a very characteristic turn of phrase, about his early years as a dealer: “The only way forward was by looking, looking and looking again, and that’s how I did it” (Print Quarterly, Vol. XXXVIII, no. 4, December 2021). He was a plain-speaking man, yet gifted with a droll, deadpan wit, and a gentleman in the true sense of the word: kind, modest and very generous, always happy to share his thoughts and knowledge – or a bottle of wine! – with colleagues and clients. His impeccable judgement and knack for fascinating discoveries made him the dealer of choice for the more adventurous collectors and many of the great European and American museums seeking to fill gaps in their holdings.

The prints presented here are truly from his own collection, not left-over stock. I remember visiting him twice in his beautiful last flat in a Georgian house in Lower Clapton, when he wanted me to look at a few things he was thinking of selling. After a glass of wine or two, he showed me some of his favourite prints, as any collector would to a fellow enthusiast. These included many of the prints offered here, but when I asked whether he was interested in consigning them to auction, he shook his head and said that they were not for sale. Recently, several curators have told me of being invited to his previous house in Clerkenwell and shown some of his favourites, only to get the same response. These were the prints he wanted keep until the end, his personal treasures, which are emblematic of his discerning eye and quirky taste, but also of his character and interests beyond art.

From Jean Morin’s Memento Mori (lot 1) to Jan van de Velde’s Sorceress (lot 21), it is evident that Chris had a particular liking for macabre and nocturnal subjects - perhaps they spoke to his dry sense of humour and introspective mind. Somewhat surprising for such a convivial and gentle soul, he had a particular weakness for skulls and owned an assortment of garments adorned with them, including a shirt which he gleefully lent to his son Ned for a Halloween party.

Tim Schmelcher
Christie’s Prints Department, London

Lot 1. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Jean Morin (circa 1590-1650) after Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), Memento Mori, circa 1645-50, etching and engraving; Sheet 324 x 319 mm. Price realised GBP 48,260 (Estimate GBP 15,000 – GBP 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

on thick laid paper, with and unidentified watermark Letters T... A very fine impression of this extremely rare print, Mazel's first state (of two), printing very richly and darkly, with intense contrasts, great subtlety and depth, trimmed inside the platemark but with a fillet of blank paper outside the borderline on three sides, a thread margin below some very minor staining and creasing generally in very good condition.
 

Provenance: Inscribed 'Vte. Guichardot', in pencil verso; presumably M. Guichardot (d. 1875), Paris (not in Lugt); possibly his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 7-10 July 1875.
Christopher Mendez (1943-2025), London; then by descent to present owners.
 

Literature: Robert-Dumesnil 39; Mazel 40;
S. W. Reed, French Prints from the Age of the Musketeers, Boston, 1998, no. 113, pp. 212-13 (another impression illustrated).
 

Note: With its square format and proximity of the objects depicted, this memento mori still life is striking in its simplicity and unequivocal symbolism. The large skull occupies the central part of sheet and covers about a third of it, facing the viewer frontally: death awaits us all and stares us into the faces. To its left stands a transparent vase of roses with one petal fallen, and to its right lies an engraved clock watch - both symbols of the inevitable decay and end. The dark message is intensified by the impressive range of tonalities achieved by Morin's dense, intricate web of etched lines. Morin's extreme clair-obscur effects anticipate of invention of the mezzotint technique and must be seen in the context of the experiments with the depiction of light and darkness of the Northern 17th-century printmakers.
Morin created this terrifying but astonishingly virtuoso print after a now lost painting by Philippe de Champaigne. Another, similar painting by Champaigne is today at the Musée de Tessé in Le Mans, France, with an hourglass in place of the clock watch.
The print is very rare and to our knowledge only another impression (of the later, reworked third state) was offered at auction within the last thirty years.
Despite his love of life, Chris Mendez had a weakness for memento mori. Not only did he keep some of them for his personal collection of prints (see lots 2-6), he also had a small, but choice collection of garments adorned with skulls, including a shirt which he gleefully lent to his son Ned for a Halloween party.

Lot 2-1. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Anonymous Italian (17th century) After Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617), Quis Evadet (Allegory of Transience), engraving, circa 1600. Price realised GBP 1,651 (Estimate GBP 2,000 – GBP 3,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

on laid paper, watermark Double-headed Eagle. A fine impression of this very rare, large print, first state (of two), trimmed to or just inside the platemark but outside the borderline on three sides, a small margin below laid down to an old album sheet

Lot 2-2. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Simon de Passe (1595-1647) after Crispijn de Passe II (1564-1637), Memento Mori, engraving, circa 1612-15. Price realised GBP 1,651 (Estimate GBP 2,000 – GBP 3,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

on laid paper, watermark Strasbourg Lily with pendant Letters WR, a good impression, with margins, trimmed inside the platemark in places below, some minor defects

Lot 2-3. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Benigno Bossi (1727-1792), A Skull resting on a Ledge, etching, 1760. Price realised GBP 1,651 (Estimate GBP 2,000 – GBP 3,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

on stiff laid paper, without watermark, a fine impression of the first state (of three), with wide margins, some foxing

Lot 2-4. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Anonymous Copy after Jacques Chéreau (1688-1776) after Noël Nicolas Coypel (1690-1734), A Funeral Invitation, etching with letterpress text, circa 1737. Price realised GBP 1,651 (Estimate GBP 2,000 – GBP 3,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

on laid paper, watermark fragment Pro Patria, with margins, various losses, folds and tears, a hand-written London address verso

Provenance: Christopher Mendez (1943-2025), London; then by descent to present owners.
 

Literature: Hollstein 488; New Hollstein 529 (copy e) (after Goltzius);
Franken 1241; Hollstein 4 (de Passe);
Le Blanc 121 (Bossi)
 

Note: The anonymous Italian engraver took the central composition of the putto sitting on a skull blowing soap bubbles from Goltzius's engraving titled QVIS EVADET, enlarged it and added a highly decorative border with strapwork, flowers, birds, insects, two curious, angelic figures blowing conch shells and other creatures and mascarons. The present example is a very fine impression of this rare print, with guidelines in the text border below, and great contrast.

Another version of the The Funeral Invitation after Coypel, with the name of the etcher J. Chéreau at lower right, is in the British Museum (inv. no. Y,7.113). There, the text is partly printed in copperplate letters: 'You are desir'd to accompany the Corpse of'. The rest of the invitation, dated 1769, is written by hand in brown ink. In the present example, the text of the invitation to the funeral of Mrs Mary Potter, dated to the 22 February 1737-8, is printed in letterpress. Remarkably, although the present prints appears to be a copy of the former, its usage as an invitation predates it by some thirty years. One can only assume that various versions of such etchings where available for sale over long periods of time, irrespective of when they were printed. Due to their ephemeral nature few examples have survived. Interestingly, although of French origin, both versions of this composition found their use in England.
The fact that the present example is addressed to The Rev.d Doctor/ Newcomb. Hackney. must have added to its attraction for Chris Mendez, who was a 'Hackney boy' after all.

Lot 3. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Willem Van Swanenburg (1581 / 82-1612) After Jan Cornelis Woudanus (circa 1570-1615), The Anatomical Theatre of the University of Leiden, 1610, etching. Sheet 327 x 392 mm. Price realised GBP 22,860 (Estimate BP 1,500 – GBP 2,500) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

on laid paper, without watermark; a fine impression of this very rare print, first state (of two), published by Andreas Cloucquius, Leiden
trimmed inside the borderline but retaining a fillet of blank paper outside the borderline on three sides and above the title above
with the usual vertical central fold, the sheet toned and with some foxing, a short tear below, otherwise in good condition
 

Provenance: Christopher Mendez (1943-2025), London; then by descent to present owners.
 

Literature: Hollstein 29
 

Note: This rare and amusing - if rather macabre - print is the first plate of a series of four etchings dedicated to places of learning and exercise at Leiden University. The other three plates depict the University Library, the Fencing School, and the Botanical Gardens. One impression of the present print at the Albertina in Vienna is accompanied with a separately printed text in German, another at Coburg comes with separately printed texts in German, Latin and French.
In the second state, the artists' and publishers names have been removed and replaced with the address of C. I. Visscher as the publisher.

Lot 4. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Hendrik Hondius (1573-1650), Still Life with Skull, Sandglass, Books, and Artist’s Utensils ('Memento Mori. Finis Coronat Opus.'), engraving, 1626. Sheet 212 x 270 mm. Price realised GBP 4,064 (Estimate GBP 1,200 – GBP 1,800) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026
 

on laid paper, watermark Foolscap; a very good impression of this very rare subject, third state (of four), printing with good clarity and depth, trimmed inside the platemark; a vertical, central fold, otherwise in very good condition
Provenance: Christopher Mendez (1943-2025), London; acquired before 1982 (according to his notes); then by descent to present owners.
 

Literature: Hollstein 19; New Hollstein 20
 

Note: This interior scene represents a Vanitas image, a genre which saw its peak of popularity in the first half of the 17th century in Holland. Most of these compositions are pure still lifes of specific objects symbolic of the transience of life, such as a skull and bones, an hourglass, a candle, a vase of flowers, sometimes insects. Hondius's engraving is more complex and rendered with remarkable mastery in the spatial relationships between the large variety of things depicted. The interior scene opens up to the external world at the sides: the bull's eye windows letting light in - clearly inspired by Dürer's Saint Jerome (see lots 78 & 79) - at left; and an open door through which we glimpse an outside staircase and two city palaces.

The Latin inscription Finis Coronat Opus ('The end crowns the work') is crucial to understand the meaning of this dense composition. In the foreground we see the scattered artist's tools, including two burins and a copperplate (engraved with the artist's monogram and a figure of Hercules), two sketchbooks, a palette, a board for the grinding and mixing of paints, and other utensils, whilst on the table a center, behind an easel holding a small panel and amongst other staple memento mori symbols, lies a skull crowned with a laurel wreath: it is through art alone that we can attain immortality.

Lot 5-1. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), A Skull resting on a Stone Block (after Leonardo da Vinci), 1645. Plate 78 x 92 mm., Sheet 81 x 93 mm. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2026
 

on laid paper, without watermark, a very good, tonal impression of this rare print, with narrow margins;

Lot 5-2. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Sectioned Skull in Profile to Left with the Left side of the Cranium removed (after Leonardo da Vinci), 1651. Plate 70 x 76 mm., Sheet 90 x 95 mm. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2026
 

on laid paper, without watermark, a very good impression of this rare print, with margins;

Lot 5-3. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Skull and Cross Bones, 1652. Plate 49 x 57 mm., Sheet 58 x 66 mm. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2026
 

on laid paper, without watermark, a very good impression of this rare print, second, final state, with small margins;

Provenance: Hugh Melville Howard, Earl of Wicklow (1883-1919) (Lugt 1280b) (Sectioned Skull only).
Christopher Mendez (1943-2025), London; then by descent to present owners.
 

Literature: Pennington 1773-1775; New Hollstein 1179, 793, 1196 (Hollar)
Nagler 36 (Morgenstern)

Note: Chris Mendez liked skulls, but also had a penchant for hats and other headgear, and the head to wear them with flair. It is not surprising that he felt drawn to Hollar's skulls - and to the charming but unassuming little 'portrait of a hat' by Morgenstern.

Lot 6. From the personal collection of the Late Christopher Mendez. Pieter Schenck (1660-1718/19), Vanitas Still Life, mezzotint with touches of burin, circa 1688. Plate 246 x 180 mm. Sheet 251 x 185 mm. Price realised GBP 4,826 (Estimate GBP 800 – GBP 1,200) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026
 

on laid paper, watermark Letters CDO (not in Heawood), a very fine, luminous impression of this rare print, third, final state, printing richly yet softly, with intense contrasts and a light plate tone, small margins, a short repaired tear at right, generally in very good condition
 

Provenance: Friedrich Quiring (b. 1886), Eberswalde, Berlin (Lugt 1041c).
A stocknumber K08528 in pencil verso (possibly Kennedy Galleries, New York).
Christopher Mendez (1943-2025), London; then by descent to present owners.
 

Literature: Hollstein 471
 

Note: In this exquisite still life Pieter Schenk made great use of the then still new mezzotint technique, which allowed for the finest transitions between light and darkness and all the tonal gradations in between, which were hitherto nearly impossible to convey in the print medium. His depiction of the glistening, reflective soap bubbles floating in the air against the black background is particularly delightful.
 

Christie's. Old Master Prints, London, 7 July 2026