Antique Print of a Caiman and Common Wall Gecko

€ 240

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Sheet size: 15.3 × 23.4 cm (6.0 × 9.2 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-13214-3

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

General age-related toning. Minor wear and soiling. With original protective sheet attached. Blank verso. Please review the images for further condition details.

About this sheet

A caiman and a common wall gecko on one hand-colored engraving from the Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle, edited by Charles Henry Dessalines d'Orbigny and published in 1861. The plate is headed "Dict. Univ. d'Hist. Nat." and "Reptiles", with a plate number at the upper right.

The lettering below lists "Ordre des Émydosauriens, Crocodiliens. 1. Caïman à museau de Brochet (Alligator lucius, Cuv.)" and "Ordre des Sauriens, Geckotiens. 2. Platydactyle des murailles (Platydactylus muralis, Dum. Bib.)", with their reduced scale noted. The caiman crawls along a muddy bank toward the water at lower right, drawn in olive and yellow with dark banding, with reeds behind it. The gecko clings to a pale rock at the upper left, in brown with a banded tail.

D'Orbigny was a French botanist and geologist who identified many of the flowering plant species returned to France from his brother's collecting journeys through South America.