Antique Hand-Colored Engraving of Squirrels and Rodents, Quadrupeds - circa 1800
€ 280
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1800
Sheet size
23.7 × 19.2 cm (9.3 × 7.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13836-60
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
The print is in good to very good condition with strong original coloring. Light age toning is visible across the sheet with scattered faint foxing typical for its age. There are no tears or repairs and the plate marks remain clear.
About this sheet
Squirrels of different lands on one sheet, an original hand-colored engraving lettered "Vierf. Thiere XXXXI" and "Quadruped XXXXI" at the top, with six numbered figures. The old description dates it to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century.
The six animals are posed on small grassy mounds and branches against a plain ground. The accompanying text leaf, quoted in the old description, names them as follows: No. 1, the Virginian squirrel (Sciurus cinereus), gray with a reddish mouth and ears; No. 2, the Javanese squirrel, with a light brown red throat, belly and tail; No. 3, the Ceylonese squirrel, with a black back and a huge pale tail; No. 4, the Malabar squirrel, the largest, in reddish brown; No. 5, the Coquallin (Sciurus variegatus) of Mexico, orange with transverse stripes; and No. 6, the Georgian squirrel of Georgia in Asia, in dark brown above and reddish yellow below.
Only the first and fifth figures come from the Americas: the Virginian squirrel, which the text says lives in Virginia and almost all of North America, and the Coquallin of Mexico.
