Gouache Animal Prints

This is an original 19th century hand-colored folio-sized lithograph entitled "Gallinula Chloropus" (Moorhen) by John Gould, published in his "Birds of Great Britain", published in London between 1862 and 1873. The print, which was drawn by Gould and Henry Richter and lithographed by Walter & Cohn, depicts a family of Moorhens, including two adults and six babies in a beautiful landscape. The adults are in the water and the babies are lying on the leaves a flowering lilly pad. This striking Gould hand-colored moorhen family lithograph is augmented with gum-arabic paint. The sheet measures 14.88" high and 21.75" wide. It is in excellent condition, other than a spot in the upper portion of the right margin and two small spots at the edge of the lower margin on the left. The original descriptive text pages from Gould's 19th century publication are included. There are several other unframed Gould hummingbird lithographs available on our 1stdibs and InCollect storefronts. Two or more of these striking lithographs would make an attractive display grouping. A discount is available for purchase of a set depending on the number. These additional Gould hummingbirds may be viewed by typing Timeless Intaglio...

This is an original 1st octavo edition John James Audubon hand-colored lithograph entitled "yellow-breasted Rail, Adult Male in Spring", No. 62, Plate 307, from Audubon's "Birds of America". It was lithographed, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen and published in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1841. It depicts an adult male yellow-breasted Rail bird on the left standing on a rock on the bank of a body of water, looking to the right, perhaps at something in the water or on an island on the right with trees. The landscape surrounding the bird is striking. This original 1st octavo edition hand-colored Audubon lithograph...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Roseate Spoonbill" (Plate 362, No. 73) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 6.75" x 10.44" Image size: 5" x 7.63" Condition: In excellent condition Very rare The "Roseate Spoonbill" is one of the very top, absolute most desirable birds from Audubon's famous "Birds of America" series Notes: Provenance: private collection - Fleming Island, FL. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted in Florida in 1831 or 1832. "This beautiful and singular bird" was prized for its wings and tail feathers which were made into fans in St. Augustine. The roseate spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. The roseate spoonbill's pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin, like the American flamingo. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Snowy Heron" (Plate 374, No. 75) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "American Anhinga - Snake Bird" (Plate 420, No. 84) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 10" x 6.69" Image size: 6.63" x 4.63" Condition: Minor toning to sheet and some faint discoloration in margins. Old glue staining along right binding edge as normal. It is otherwise in very good condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Cleveland, OH. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. The preceding 1836 Havell edition of this work has a different title: "Black-bellied Darter", (Plate: CCCXVI - 396, No. 64). Based on a drawing inscribed "New Orleans 1822 - redrawn ... 1836". This conspicuous bird had various names including "water turkey" and "Bec à Lancette". The Anhinga, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from a'ñinga in the Brazilian Tupi language and means "devil bird" or "snake bird". To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Long-billed Curlew (City of Charleston)" (Plate 355, No. 71) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition...

This is an original John James Audubon hand-colored lithograph entitled "Mango Humming bird, 1. 2. Males. 3. Female. Bignonia grandifolia", No. 51, Plate 251 from Audubon's "Birds of America, lithographed, printed and colored by JT Bowen and published in Philadelphia between 1870-1871. The lithograph depicts an adult male hummingbird, labelled 1, in flight above a beautiful flowering plant, a Chinese Trumpet-vine. Another male, labeled 2, is perched on a flower on the left and a female, labelled 3, is perched on a flower on the right. This hand-colored Audubon bird octavo-size lithograph sheet measures 10.25" high by 6.75" wide. It is in excellent condition. The original text pages, 185-186, from Audubon's 19th century publication are included. John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a naturalist and artist. He was initially unsuccessful financially prior to the publication of his famous work “The Birds of America”, spending time in debtor’s prison, once stabbing a disgruntled investor in self-defense. However, his obsession with birds and art motivated him to persist in his goal of documenting every bird in America via his watercolor paintings and publishing his works for all to enjoy. Audubon's first illustrations were published in a large elephant folio size. Due to their expense they were purchased in rather small numbers by the wealthy. To reach a larger audience, Audubon, with the help of his sons and J. T. Bowen, published a smaller octavo sized lithograph version, which were much more affordable. With the success of his bird projects, Audubon then turned his attention to four-legged animals. He explored the Missouri River in 1843 sketching the four-legged animals he encountered in their natural setting. His expedition covered some of the same regions recently explored by Lewis and Clark, traveling from present day Alaska to Mexico. Audubon realized that this was an opportunity to document these animals in the still relatively pristine American wilderness, before man encroached on their environment. Between 1845 and 1848, Audubon and his sons John Woodhouse Audubon...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Florida Cormorant" (Plate 417, No. 84) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 6.5" x 10.44" Image size: 3.75" x 6.25" Condition: Some minor discoloration upper center in margin. In excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Cleveland, OH. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted in the Florida Keys on April 26, 1832, Audubon's forty-seventh birthday. The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes and in coastal areas and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is entirely black except for a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin and some extra plumage that it exhibits in the breeding season when it grows a double crest in which black feathers are mingled with white. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like all cormorants, are not waterproof, and it must dry them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

This is an original John James Audubon hand-colored lithograph entitled "Trumpeter Swan, Adult", No. 77, Plate 382 from Audubon's "Birds of America, lit...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Bonaparte’s Flycatching-Warbler (Great Magnolia)" (Plate 73, No. 15) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 10.5" x 6.5" Image size: 7.5" x 5.63" Condition: Minor area of discoloration upper right corner. In excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted on August 13, 1821. The Canada warbler is a small boreal songbird of the New World warbler family. It summers in Canada and northeastern United States and winters in northern South America. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Townsend's Cormorant" (Plate 418, No. 84) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 10.13" x 6.5" Image size: 4.38" x 5" Condition: Light toning to sheet. Some light foxing and small areas of discoloration. Remnants of mounting tape from previous framing on verso. The white background was recently also hand-colored. In otherwise good condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Nashville, TN; acquired from a gallery in Nashville, TN. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition probably painted in London in 1838, from a specimen obtained near the mouth of the Columbia River. Brandt's cormorant is a strictly marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges, in the summer, from Alaska to the Gulf of California, but the population north of Vancouver Island migrates south during the winter. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

This is an original 19th century John James Audubon hand-colored lithograph entitled "4128 Audubon, Purple Gallinule, Adult Male, Spring Plumage", No. 61, Plate 303 from Audubon's "B...