Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.
Crested Shag Drying Its Wings on a Rock after Lilian Medland, c. 1909
£245 ($325, €290)
Period original, not a reproduction.
Shipped from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked, worldwide. Returns accepted within 14 days.
- Date
- circa 1909
- Technique
- Photogravure
- Coloring
- Uncolored
- Condition
- Good. Light age toning; light handling soiling along the edges and a few small spots in the margins. Printed image clean.
- Period
- 20th century
- Section
- Birds
- Reference
- BG-14331-3-22
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.
This is an original antique bird print, a photogravure printed in black and gray tones without added color. It shows a Shag in breeding plumage standing on a low rock at the water's edge with both wings held open to dry, the familiar pose of the cormorant family. The head is turned to the viewer's left and tilted up, with the upcurled crest on the forehead, the pale eye and the slender hooked bill clearly drawn. Every wing feather is carefully modeled, the dark scaled mantle shows its pale edgings, the broad webbed feet grip the rock and the stiff tail is spread below.
The plate is lettered "PLATE CXLVI" at lower right and "1/3 scale" at lower center, the scale at which the bird is drawn. The artist's signature, "L. M. Medland", is drawn into the image. No species name is printed on the plate; the identification given here is made from the drawing itself.
Charles Stonham's The Birds of the British Islands was issued in London by E. Grant Richards in five volumes from 1906 to 1911, and this plate is from the third volume. Every plate in the work was made after drawings by Lilian M. Medland and printed by photogravure, so the tones of her original brush and wash drawing survive in a single ink. Medland later married the ornithologist Tom Iredale and moved to Australia.
Printed in a single tone on a generous sheet, the plate looks well in a plain frame with a pale mat, alone or as part of a group of birds.
Condition: Light age toning; light handling soiling along the edges and a few small spots in the margins. Printed image clean.
This is an original antique 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.
