Majestic Hunter: The American Belted Kingfisher in Its Natural Habitat, 1749

1749 · Birds, Plants & Natural History

Majestic Hunter: The American Belted Kingfisher in Its Natural Habitat, 1749

Name: Majestic Hunter: The American Belted Kingfisher in Its Natural Habitat, 1749
Brand: American Maps and Prints
SKU: BG-13535-22
Price: 390 USD
Availability: InStock

$390

€350 · dollar price at today's exchange rate

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Shipping to the United States: $51 standard, $73 express, insured and tracked.

Date: 1749
Kind: Birds, Plants & Natural History
Size: 28.3 × 22.7 cm (11.1 × 8.9 in)
Condition: Good. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Has been framed before, hence a darker tone on the outer borders, not affecting the image. Please study scan carefully.
Period: Colonial America
Reference: BG-13535-22

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.

Guaranteed original. This is an original of the period stated, not a later reproduction or print-on-demand copy. If it is ever shown to be otherwise, we refund you in full.

Shipping to the United States. Sent from our gallery in Langweer, the Netherlands, flat between boards or rolled in a tube, and fully insured. Delivery and import charges.

About this piece

The belted kingfisher, an original hand-colored engraving from A Natural History of Uncommon Birds by George Edwards, issued in London between 1743 and 1751. The plate is lettered with the date 1749 and carries the number 115 below the image.

The bird is shown in profile on a gnarled branch above a stretch of water, its head bent sharply downward with the long black bill fixed on a small fish lying along the limb. The coloring is slate blue-gray on the back and wings, with rows of white-edged feathers, a white collar and breast, a shaggy crest, and a pinkish tinge on the bill and feet. A tuft of grass and a few pebbles at the base of a broken stump, and a pale wash of water behind, are the only setting.

Edwards, an English naturalist, drew, etched and colored his plates himself, working from specimens and living birds brought to London from many countries. The belted kingfisher is a North American species, and the plate is one of his records of birds then little known to European naturalists.

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