King Vulture and Black Vulture, Brazilian Bird Print, Descourtilz, 1944

About this piece

King vulture and black vulture print after Descourtilz, Estampa 1 of the Ornitologia Brasileira, published in Rio de Janeiro in 1944 and printed in color by offset from Jean-Théodore Descourtilz's own painting.

The plate pairs two New World vultures on a single sheet. In the upper position stands a king vulture, identifiable by its bare, wrinkled head and neck marked in orange, yellow-green and black, with a small fleshy orange caruncle rising above the bill; the body plumage is rendered in warm buff and pale gold over the back and breast, breaking to solid blue-black across the folded wings and tail, with a short white ruff of down at the base of the neck. Below and slightly in front of it, angled so that its own bare gray head and pale hooked bill face the opposite direction, stands a second, all-dark vulture with sooty brown-black plumage throughout; it is set apart from its companion chiefly by the plain gray skin of the head and the absence of any bright facial ornament. Both birds stand on a low grassy rise rendered in a few strokes of green, with a coiled snake, its body patterned in brown and olive bands, lying at the darker bird's feet; a pale wash of rock and a suggestion of low hills fills the background.

The Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos was published by Livraria Kosmos Editora in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 1944: the first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos, of a work first published in French in the 1850s, limited to 1,315 copies (1,000 plus 315 numbered). Its 48 color offset plates reproduce Descourtilz's own paintings of Brazilian birds, each captioned "Estampa" with its number and mounted on a toned card within a printed green ornamental border.

The artist, Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (circa 1796 to 1855), was a French painter and naturalist. He traveled to Brazil in the late 1820s, devoted himself to painting its birds, and published his first work on the birds of Brazil in 1834.

Decorative and strong in color, this king vulture and black vulture print after Descourtilz would frame well for a study, library or garden room, or sit alongside other Brazilian bird prints in a natural history collection.

This plate is in fair to good condition for its age. The image panel shows scattered foxing; the mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots, a small nick to the right edge and light edge wear. Please review the images for further condition details.

This is an original print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.