Huge collection of antique prints and maps
Lot 5085:
Fieldfare by William Hayes 1775
This etching of the Fieldfare is from A Natural History of British Birds with their Portraits, accurately drawn, and beautifully coloured from nature by William Hayes. Printed for S. Hooper, London 1775.
This hand-coloured print was drawn and etched by William Hayes and is from a rare collection of natural history plates of British birds. Hayes executed all but eight of the plates in this work himself as he appears to have been learning how to produce his own etched plates from Gabriel Smith, the etcher of the other eight plates in his book.
The rendering is distinctly 18th-century in conception and style, resembling other prints and watercolours of the period that isolate the birds against the page, generally perched on a branch with a small patch of ground below. The original set had only 40 folio size plates.
Size: 21in x 14in (53cm x 35.5cm)
Condition: The print is in excellent condition on thick, high quality paper apart from several stains in left hand margin . Please inspect the image carefully
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