Vintage 1941 Warner Sallman Head of Christ Framed Litho Print Kriebel & Bates For Sale

Warner Sallman's "Head of Christ", published by Kriebel & Bates of Indianapolis — the most widely reproduced religious image of the twentieth century, in an 11 x 14 inch framed lithograph.

Almost everything about this one is printed on the object rather than guessed at. The copyright cartouche sits in the lower left of the image and reads "COPYRIGHT 1941 / KRIEBEL & BATES / LITHO IN U.S.A.", with Sallman's signature in the plate directly beneath it over the date 1940. The backing board is stamped with the stock number and the size: N4853-H110, 11X14.

This is a lithograph, not a painting. The support is a linen-embossed board, so the canvas weave is pressed into the stock itself — convincing at arm's length, and plainly a print up close. Sallman's signature is part of the plate; he did not sign this copy by hand.

A note on the date: 1941 is the copyright year of the plate, not necessarily the year this particular impression was pulled. Kriebel & Bates printed the image from the same plate for years afterwards.

• One framed lithograph, 11 x 14 in (print size)
• Original pale gold gesso frame
• Original chipboard backing with cord hanger

• Print clean and bright: no tears, creases, losses, abrasion, water staining or foxing
• Colour full and unfaded — no fade band, no mat line, no light-struck edge
• Frame: one small gesso chip on the inner lip at the left rail
• Frame: light rubbing along the top of the moulding
• Mitres tight, no separation at any corner
• Verso: original chipboard backing, brads and cord hanger intact, no dust cover
• Backing board shows slight discolouration due to age
• Unglazed — there is no glass over the print

Not assessed: whether the print is trimmed inside the rabbet, whether any further printed line sits under the frame's lip, and whether the frame is original to the print. Only the print size is documented — outside frame measurements are approximate.

The 1941 Kriebel & Bates printings are the early ones — the image was published from 1940 and later reissued for decades under other imprints, so a legible Kriebel & Bates cartouche with the plate signature is the version collectors look for. Finding one with its original backing board and stock stamp still intact is less common than the image's ubiquity suggests.