Antique Bird Print of the Cattle Egret by Gould (1832)

Description: Antique bird print titled 'Rufous Backed Egret (Ardea russata).' - This plate shows the Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). Expertly hand-coloured. John Gould: "Birds of Europe". 1832–1837, 5 vols. Drawn from nature & on stone by J. & E. Gould. Printed by Hullmandel.

Artists and Engravers: John Gould (1804 - 1881) was an English ornithologist and bird artist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates that he produced with the assistance of his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists including Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Matthew Hart. He has been considered the father of bird study in Australia and the Gould League in Australia is named after him. Gould portrayed birds native to Europe in a manner that had only been thought appropriate for the colorful species of distant places. In this way he managed to draw much popular interest back to native birds, which were suddenly considered equally beautiful to exotic species.