Japanese Smelt and Char, Antique Perry Expedition 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-14475-2-8
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 the bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and bottom right corners.
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 tenth plate of its natural history series. Three figures are drawn at natural size and lettered in Latin at the foot: a young salmon at the top, the Japanese smelt Osmerus japonicus in the middle and the white spotted char Salmo leucomaenis below. The sheet is headed Natural History Plate the tenth.
This sheet comes from Notes on some Figures of Japanese Fish by James Carson Brevoort, issued with the official account of Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, Washington, 1856. The drawings were made on the spot from fresh fish by the expedition artists, which is why the colors are those of a living animal rather than a faded museum specimen. The drawing on this plate is credited to H. Patterson.
The white spotted char is the iwana of the Japanese mountain streams, a fish with a long place in the country's cooking and its fishing writing. Putting a young salmon, a smelt and a char together makes the plate a quiet study of how closely related fishes differ. 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 the bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and bottom right corners.
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.
