White Winged Crossbill with Larch Cones, Hand Colored Bird Print, 1896
€ 105
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1896
Mapmaker / artist
Not named on the sheet
Publisher
John C. Nimmo, London
Technique
Wood Engraving
Coloring
Hand colored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-11586-3
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
Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Complete sheet, all four corners present. Several larger brown marks. A small nick at the right edge. A short row of small ink specks in the upper margin.
About this sheet
An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL." A single coral red crossbill clings to a thick, sloping branch washed pale olive, its body hunched to the left and its head bowed to the right, looking down along the bill. The wings are black with two broad white bars, the tail black and slightly forked. Below the bird a slender larch twig with tufts of green needles crosses to the left, and two gray brown cones hang side by side at the right of the branch.
The caption "WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL." is engraved in capitals below the picture, with a full stop. No plate number or engraver's credit appears on the plate. The White-winged Crossbill is Loxia leucoptera; the white wing bars, left as bare paper within the black wing, are its most visible mark.
The plate comes from the fourth edition of A History of British Birds by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), rector of Nunburnholme in Yorkshire. This edition was issued in six volumes by John C. Nimmo, London, and the plate belongs to the third volume, whose title page is dated 1896 and states that the plates are colored by hand. The wood blocks for the plates of the work were engraved by Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield in Yorkshire. Each plate combines an engraved black key block with a printed gray tint, finished by hand in watercolor.
Condition: Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Complete sheet, all four corners present. Several larger brown marks. A small nick at the right edge. A short row of small ink specks in the upper margin.
This is an original antique 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.
