Antique Bird Print of the Snowy Owl by Sepp & Nozeman, 1809

€ 2 250

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: 1809
Mapmaker / artist: M. Houttuyn (Author),J.C. Sepp (Artist)
Sheet size: 53.5 × 37 cm (21.1 × 14.6 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-05991/203

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.

Condition

Original text page included. Please review the images for further condition details.

About this sheet

The snowy owl, plate "Strix Nyctea," a hand-colored engraving from Nederlandsche Vogelen, the Dutch bird book by Cornelius Nozeman, Martinus Houttuyn and Jan Christiaan Sepp, published in Amsterdam between 1770 and 1829. The scientific name of the bird is lettered at the top of the sheet.

The owl is shown life size on a leafy branch, turned to look back over its shoulder with round yellow eyes, its pale plumage built up in soft gray and cream washes with the barring on the back and wing coverts picked out feather by feather. The plain ground leaves the bird isolated, as in the book's other plates.

The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large white owl native to Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It nests on the ground, hunts rodents and waterfowl, and, unlike most owls, is active by day in summer.

Nederlandsche Vogelen is regarded as the first major Dutch study of ornithology, and its plates, by Sepp and his son, were noted for showing the birds close to life size and in their natural surroundings.