Georges Cuvier, French Naturalist, Steel Engraved Portrait, circa 1870
€ 165
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1870
Mapmaker / artist
J. Thomson (engraver)
Publisher
William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and New York
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
28 × 18 cm (11.0 × 7.1 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14343-19
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 condition for its age. A few small spots above the image; light creasing to the upper left and lower right corners. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
An original steel engraved portrait of the French naturalist Georges Cuvier, engraved by J. Thomson and published by William Mackenzie of Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and New York. The plate is lettered "CUVIER." in open capitals below the image, with the credit "Engraved by J. Thomson from an original Drawing in the possession of the Baroness Cuvier at Paris." directly beneath the image and the imprint "William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London & New York." at the foot of the sheet.
Cuvier is shown half length, his head turned slightly to the left under a full crown of curling white hair, in a high collared double breasted coat with a white stock. He wears an order on a ribbon at his neck and a large star on his breast, signs of the honors he received under the restored French monarchy. Behind him a stone pier stands at right and a leafy tree and open sky fill the background, giving the portrait the air of a garden or park.
Georges Cuvier (1769 to 1832) was the leading naturalist of his generation, permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences and professor at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. He founded comparative anatomy as a discipline and, from his study of fossil bones, showed that whole species had become extinct, a finding that changed the understanding of the history of life.
The engraver James Thomson was a celebrated London portrait engraver of the first half of the nineteenth century, and this plate shows his fine stipple and line in the modeling of the face and hair. The Mackenzie firm issued portraits of this kind in its large illustrated works of biography and history. A fine image for a scientist's study, a natural history collection or a library wall.
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.
