About this sheet
Quetzal and trogon print after Descourtilz, taken from the 1944 Rio de Janeiro edition of the Ornitologia Brasileira, where it appears as Estampa 16, printed in color by offset.
Two long-tailed birds are shown on separate branches. The upper bird has a green head, back and breast, a pale reddish bill, and a very long, trailing tail of the same green that curves downward across most of the lower half of the plate; a touch of red shows at the flank beneath the closed wing, and the flight feathers are barred in gray and black. Below it, on its own branch, a second bird shows a dark blue head, breast and upper back, a yellow bill and eye-ring, and an orange-yellow belly, its own long tail banded beneath in black and white. Both birds are shown in profile, gripping bare branches with no surrounding foliage, the plate composed to let the sweep of the upper bird's tail carry the eye down to the second bird below it.
The Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos was published by Livraria Kosmos Editora in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 1944: the first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos, of a work first published in French in the 1850s, limited to 1,315 copies (1,000 plus 315 numbered). Its 48 color offset plates reproduce Descourtilz's own paintings of Brazilian birds, each captioned "Estampa" with its number and mounted on a toned card within a printed green ornamental border.
The artist, Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (circa 1796 to 1855), was a French painter and naturalist. He traveled to Brazil in the late 1820s, devoted himself to painting its birds, and published his first work on the birds of Brazil in 1834.
Decorative and strong in color, this quetzal and trogon print after Descourtilz would frame well for a study, library or garden room, or sit alongside other Brazilian bird prints in a natural history collection.
This plate is in good condition for its age. The mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots, a small surface crease at the lower right edge and light edge wear; there is a faint mark at the left of the image panel. 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.
