Japanese Sea Bass, Antique Perry Expedition Fish Lithograph, 1856
€ 240
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-14475-2-1
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. Handling soiling along the right edge. 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 third plate of its natural history series. Two sea basses lie across the sheet in color, numbered one and two and named in Latin along the foot, with the heading United States Japan Expedition at the upper left and Natural History Plate the third at the upper right. The drawing is credited on the plate to Bayard Taylor.
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 Bayard Taylor.
Bayard Taylor was the travel writer who sailed with Perry and whose books made the expedition famous at home, so a fish drawn by his hand is an unusual thing to own. The plates were made from fresh specimens in Japanese harbors in 1854, at the moment the country was being opened to foreign trade after two centuries of seclusion. 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.
Even age toning. Handling soiling along the right edge. 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.
