Hand-Colored Engraving of the American Blue-Winged Teal by Seligmann, ca.1770
€ 580
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1770
Sheet size
37 × 25 cm (14.6 × 9.8 in)
Reference
BG-13969
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
Good. Vibrant colors, minimal fading. Paper shows light toning and minor foxing. Some handling marks, mostly outside plate-mark, not affecting image quality.
About this sheet
The blue-winged teal, titled "Blaues Americanisches Kriechentlein", in an original hand-colored copperplate engraving after Mark Catesby from Johann Michael Seligmann's Sammlung verschiedener ausländischer und seltener Vögel, Nuremberg, circa 1770. The plate is numbered "Tab. XCVIII" at the upper right and lettered below with the Latin "Querquedula americana fusca", "N° 98 IV Theil" and the French "Sarcelle brune de l'Amerique", with the credit "M. Catesby ad viv. delin." at the lower left.
The duck stands on a pale, mossy rock above a strip of still water, its head lowered and its bill pointing down toward the rock. The bird is shown in an unusual pose, with its back arched and its body held nearly horizontal. The plumage is brown and gray with fine barring, and the folded wing carries the bright pale blue patch that gives the bird its name, edged below with green and a white bar. The bill is dark with a pinkish edge, the eye is marked with a pale streak, and the webbed feet are gray-green.
The plate is one of many ducks and waterfowl taken from Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which Seligmann reissued with German, Latin and French captions for readers in Europe.
