Cotingas and Tanagers on a Cecropia, Brazilian Bird Print, Descourtilz, 1944

Cotingas and tanagers print after Descourtilz, 1944: this is Estampa 27 from the Ornitologia Brasileira, the Kosmos edition of the French painter's paintings of Brazilian birds.

Three birds are gathered in the broad, deeply lobed leaves of a cecropia tree, its distinctive reddish flower spikes and fruiting catkins rendered in careful botanical detail at the center of the plate. At upper left, a bird with a blue-black head and back and a clean white belly perches on a bare stem below the foliage. Below it, a second bird shows a head and throat mottled in dusky pink and brown over a blue-gray body, its wing marked with a pale patch, perched lower on the same branch. To the right, a third and mostly white bird with a black head and an open, calling bill perches among the cecropia leaves, its body pale enough to stand out sharply against the dark green foliage behind it. The cecropia itself is drawn with as much attention as the birds, its palmate leaves, pale undersides and hanging fruit spikes filling the upper two-thirds of the composition.

Livraria Kosmos Editora published the Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 1944. This first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos from the French original of the 1850s, was limited to 1,315 copies (1,000 plus 315 numbered). All 48 plates are color offset prints of Descourtilz's paintings of Brazilian birds, each captioned "Estampa" with its number on a toned card within a printed green ornamental border.

Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (circa 1796 to 1855) was a French painter and naturalist who traveled to Brazil in the late 1820s and devoted himself to painting its birds; his first work on the birds of Brazil appeared in 1834.

Strong in color and suitable for framing, this cotingas and tanagers print after Descourtilz would make a handsome addition to a collection of ornithology prints or a colorful focal point for a library or garden room.

This plate is in good condition for its age. The mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots, a faint surface crease in the lower left and light edge wear; there is a small spot on the image panel. Please review the images for further condition details.

This is an original print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.