Japanese Leopard Shark and Bullhead Shark, Perry Expedition, 1856
€ 265
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1856
Mapmaker / artist
James Carson Brevoort, with the figures drawn by the artists of the United States Japan Expedition
Publisher
Published by order of the Congress of the United States, Washington
Technique
Lithograph
Coloring
Printed color
Sheet size
22 × 29.5 cm (8.7 × 11.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14475-2-10
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
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.
About this sheet
This is an original antique lithographed plate of Japanese fishes from the official report of Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, the twelfth plate of its natural history series. Two sharks share the final plate of the series: the banded houndshark Triakis scyllium, lettered as drawn reduced, and the Port Jackson or bullhead shark Cestracion philippi at natural size, with its blunt head and spined dorsal fins. Both are numbered and named in Latin at the foot, under the heading Natural History Plate the twelfth.
It belongs to the natural history plates of the official Perry expedition report, the Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, published at Washington in 1856 by order of Congress. The figures were taken from recent specimens by the artists attached to the squadron, and James Carson Brevoort supplied the scientific notes. The drawing on this plate is credited to H. Patterson.
Sharks sell. The bullhead shark with its heavy brow and its fin spines is one of the strangest looking fishes in the sea and the plate gives it plenty of room. As the last plate of the natural history series it also completes a run. The plates frame well in a simple pale frame and look well in a run of two or three along a hallway, a kitchen or a bathroom wall.
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.
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.
