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William Wood (b.1774)Tellina Plate 37 (Shells)1815
1815
About the Item
WILLIAM WOOD
General Conchology;
or, a Description of Shells,
arranged according to the Linnean System
John Booth. London, 1815.
Engravings with Original Hand-Color
Tall Octavo.
"The study of shells or testaceous animals, is a branch of natural history which, although not greatly useful to the mechanical arts, by the beauty of the subjects it comprises, most admirably adapted to recreate the senses, to improve the taste or invention of the Artist, and finally and insensibly to lead to the contemplation of the great excellence and wisdom of the Divinity in their formation." George Perry, 1811.
Containing 260 engravings of univalves and bivalves, this work was in part based on shells in Wood’s own cabinets. “Curiosities”, as all things exotic were called, filled vitrines of wealthy gentlemen throughout Europe. These would include horns, insects, shells and the occasional stuffed specimen.
Shell collecting became a kind of expensive hobby--sometimes and obsession--among wealthy aristocrats and scientists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In those times, shells were a novelty, quite apart from their beauty, and there was the added excitement that someone had probably risked his life diving among coral reefs to find them. The competition for new and rare shells was fierce--not unnaturally as a number of frauds were perpetrated by the unscrupulous.
These marvelous hand-colored engravings represent rare and exotic specimens. The fine arrangement resembles a collector's cabinet; a grouping most satisfying to the eye. Noted for their mysterious origins, shells were as great a curiosity in centuries past as they are today.
- Creator:William Wood (b.1774) (1774 - 1857)
- Creation Year:1815
- Dimensions:Height: 19 in (48.26 cm)Width: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Clean, crisp image. Original hand-coloring. Framed to museum specifications using archival matting, backing, hinging. Glazed with ultra-violet filtering Plexiglas.
- Gallery Location:Florham Park, NJ
- Reference Number:
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