Engraved Wall Decorations

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows two medicinal plants of the old apothecary, the manna ash and sarsaparilla. The heading reads Pflanzen LXXXV and the plate carries the Vienna mark VIII.B.3 in the lower margin. Figure 1 is read as the manna ash, Fraxinus ornus, a branch with toothed pinnate leaves and dense sprays of creamy flowers, with a lump of the sweet dried sap, called manna, drawn at the foot as item a. Figure 2 is a sarsaparilla, Smilax, with a prickly climbing stem, broad heart shaped leaves with curved veins, clusters of dark berries, a flowering shoot and the long root used in medicine. Both drugs were imported in quantity around 1800, manna from Calabria and Sicily and sarsaparilla from Central and South America, and the plate shows children the living plants behind the jars on the apothecary shelf...

This antique botanical print comes from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch and shows two flowering herbs under the heading Pflanzen XLV, with the Vienna mark IV.B.27. The spe...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows the cashew tree with its colourful cashew apples and kidney shaped nuts, beside a branch of acacia. The heading reads Pfl...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows the tamarind and the pistachio, two trees grown for their edible pods and nuts. The heading reads Pflanzen XVIII and the ...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows the spectacular flower head of a Brunsvigia, the candelabra lily of South Africa, probably Josephine's lily. The sheet is...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows two spice plants of the ginger family, zedoary or white turmeric and grains of paradise. The heading reads Pflanzen LXVII...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows a yucca in full flower, the plant known in gardens as Adam's needle. The heading reads Pflanzen CXIX and the Vienna mark ...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows the leaves of the acanthus, the plant whose deeply cut foliage inspired the Corinthian capital of classical architecture....

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows two freshwater plants, the frogbit and the spiral tape grass Vallisneria. The heading reads Pflanzen CLVII and the Vienna...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows the mahogany tree and logwood, two West Indian trees prized in Europe for cabinet wood and dye. The heading reads Pflanze...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Leviticus 9, ...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Numbers 21, M...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Judges 7, Gid...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Ruth 1, Ruth ...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Daniel 8, Dan...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows two medicinal roots from tropical America, ipecacuanha and contrayerva. The heading reads Pflanzen CXXI and the Vienna ma...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Deuteronomy 3...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Numbers 11, G...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Joshua 7, Jos...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Judges 6, the...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Joshua 5, the...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are 1 Samuel 24, ...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are 1 Samuel 5, t...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Judges 1, the...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, with its rounded pink flower cluster, split seed pod and silky seeds. The heading...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Joshua 22, th...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are 1 Samuel 26, ...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Judges 19, th...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Judges 4, Sis...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Joshua 2, the...

This antique bird print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows six falcons and hawks, the birds of the falconer. The heading reads Vögel LXI and the Vienna mark VIII.B.20 is engraved at low...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are 1 Samuel 3, G...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are 2 Samuel 1, D...

This antique bird print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows jacanas, the long toed lily trotters of tropical wetlands, together with other small wading birds. The heading reads Vögel LIX...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Numbers 23, B...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Daniel 6, Dan...

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are 1 Samuel 7, S...

This antique bird print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows six eagles and large birds of prey, among them the white headed bald eagle of North America. The heading reads Vögel V and the plate is inscribed as drawn and engraved by Jacob Xaver Schmuzer above the Vienna mark I.B.34. Figure 1 is a great dark eagle with wings raised and beak open on a rocky outcrop, figure 2 another large brown eagle, figure 3 the bald eagle with its white head and yellow bill, figure 4 a heavy eagle with a pale bill and figure 5 and 6 smaller raptors on branches. The eagle plates...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 1 Kings 18:42, Elijah prays for rain on Mou...

This antique bird print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows swallows, swifts and a nightjar, the birds that hunt insects on the wing. The heading reads Vögel XXIX and the plate is signed...

This antique monkey print shows three primates, a long armed ape that is probably a gibbon and two monkeys, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bi...

This antique bird print shows a large kingfisher and a mandarin duck drake, together with a slender green bird, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch'...

This antique snake print shows two serpents in long winding curves, one blotched in brown and one grey with a brightly marked head, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna...

This antique bird print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows five brightly coloured small songbirds, including the Java sparrow. The heading reads Vögel LXXIII and the Vienna mark X.B.31 ...

This antique rattlesnake print shows a coiled rattlesnake with its rattle raised, a separate study of the rattle and a second dark snake, on an original hand coloured plate from the ...

This antique botanical print from Bertuch's Bilderbuch shows two Asian spice plants, cassia cinnamon and galangal. The heading reads Pflanzen XCI, the Weimar plate of foreign spices,...

This antique mammal print shows the cross fox and the spotted hyena, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch headed Vierfuessige Thiere LXX...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 2 Kings 21:2, the idolatry of King Manasseh...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 1 Kings 8:1, the dedication of Solomon's Te...

This antique lizard print shows a monitor lizard, a basilisk and the flying dragon lizard, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch headed A...

This antique snake print shows two serpents in looping coils, one boldly patterned in purple, yellow and pale blue and the other in soft green, on an original hand coloured plate fro...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: Esther 6, the triumph of Mordecai, and Esth...

This antique snake print shows a black snake coiled round a young tree and a pale snake rising upright beside it, with a tiny hummingbird perched above, on an original hand coloured ...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 1 Kings 7, the altar, the laver and the bro...

This antique crocodile print shows a crocodile seen from above with its jaws open, together with a detailed study of its skull, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edi...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 1 Kings 18:4 to 13, Obadiah hides the proph...

This antique snake print shows three slender serpents stretched across the page in graceful loops, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch ...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 2 Kings 13:21, a dead man revived by touchi...

This antique snake print shows four intertwined serpents in red, black, yellow and speckled pink, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch h...

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 2 Kings 7:17, the lord of Samaria trampled ...