Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.
The White-Bellied Caribbean Martin, An 1807 Ornithological Illustration
$550 (£415, €490)
Period original, not a reproduction.
Shipped from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked, worldwide. Returns accepted within 14 days.
- Date
- 1807
- Size
- 20.3 × 13.5 in (51.5 × 34.4 cm)
- Condition
- Good. General age-related toning. Minor wear and foxing, blank verso. Please study image carefully.
- Period
- Early 19th century
- Section
- Birds
- Reference
- f_39082502
Female white-bellied martin, an original hand-colored engraving titled "L'Hirondelle à ventre blanc, f.lle", from Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot's Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique septentrionale, published about 1807. The plate is lettered "pl. 29", and the credits below read "Prêtre pinx.", "Langlois imp." and "Bouquet sculp.", naming the painter, the printer and the engraver.
The bird perches on a twisted, lichen-covered branch, facing left, with a brown head and breast shading to a whitish belly. The back and wings are dark brown with a blue sheen at the shoulders, and the tail is dark blue and forked. It is drawn on an open cream sheet with a fine plate mark. The female of the species is duller than the male, which Vieillot shows on a separate plate.
The bird is the Caribbean martin, Progne dominicensis, a swallow of the West Indies, and the plate is the companion of the male on plate 28.
