Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.
Antique Print of a Male and Female Partridge of California
$490 (£370, €440)
Period original, not a reproduction.
Shipped from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked, worldwide. Returns accepted within 14 days.
- Date
- Not stated
- Size
- 15.4 × 10.3 in (39 × 26.2 cm)
- Condition
- Fair. Wear consistent with age and use. General age-related toning. Shows wear and soiling, blank verso. Please study image carefully.
- Section
- Birds
- Reference
- f_32772472
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
The California quail, then called the Partridge of California, in an original engraving from the English edition of the charts and plates to La Pérouse's voyage, published in 1799. The plate is lettered "Male & Female Partridge of California" and carries the imprint of G. G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster Row, dated November 1798, with a plate number at the right margin.
Two birds stand on a low, rough ground of grass tufts and twigs under an open sky. The male at left carries the bird's distinctive curved plume above its forehead, with a dark face and throat outlined in white, and scalloped feathers on the breast. The female stands at right, plainer in plumage, with a shorter plume. The plate is signed "Prevost del." at lower left and "Heath sculp." at lower right.
The California quail is the state bird of California, and the image comes from the French expedition under La Pérouse, whose visit to Monterey in 1786 produced some of the earliest published views of Californian wildlife.
