Racket-Tailed Motmots and Kingfishers, Brazilian Bird Print, Descourtilz, 1944

Racket-tailed motmots and kingfishers print after Descourtilz, dated 1944 and issued as Estampa 23 of the Ornitologia Brasileira, a color offset print from Jean-Théodore Descourtilz's paintings of Brazilian birds.

Five birds occupy an elaborate branch set against a wash of pale blue suggesting water. At the top, a mostly black bird with a pale gray crown and a small white patch at the throat perches upright, its very long tail ending in two bare-shafted feathers tipped with small racket-shaped blades, a feature typical of the racket-tailed motmots. Below and to the left, a smaller gray-and-white bird with a wing barred in black and white and an orange bill perches on a lower fork of the same branch. To the right, a bird with a blue-tinged crest, a brown back and a white throat sits at a similar height, while lower still, near the blue wash suggesting a stream, a gray-and-white bird with a black tail and an orange bill perches close to the water. At lower left, set apart from the others, a small bird with a red head and brown wings perches alone on a short stub of branch. The composition as a whole reads as a small gathering of stream-edge birds rather than a single family group.

The plate comes from the Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos, issued in 1944 by Livraria Kosmos Editora of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. First published in French in the 1850s, the work appeared here in its first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos and limited to 1,315 copies, 1,000 plus 315 numbered. Each of its 48 color offset plates is captioned "Estampa" with its number and mounted on a toned card with a printed green ornamental border.

Descourtilz, a French painter and naturalist who lived from circa 1796 to 1855, 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.

This racket-tailed motmots and kingfishers print after Descourtilz is decorative and strong in color, and works well framed on its own in a study or hallway or hung with other Brazilian bird prints from the same volume.

This plate is in good condition for its age. The mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots, a small nick to the left edge and light edge wear; the image itself is clean. 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.