Selasphorus scintilla (Scintillant Hummingbird).

• Price: $900.00
  

  SKU: 67390

• PRINT ADD TO FAVORITES
  SHARE

• ARTIST: John Gould

• PUBLISHER: Published in London.

• MEDIUM: Lithograph, hand colored,

  DATE: 1849-87.

• EDITION SIZE: Paper size 21 x 14" (53.4 x 35.4 cm).

• DESCRIPTION: From A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds, 6 vols., large folio. Published in London, 1849–1887. Printed by Hullmandel and Walter from drawings by J. Gould, H. C. Richter, and William Hart, lithographed by the artists. The Scintillant Hummingbird is one of the smallest and most brilliantly colored of all hummingbirds, native to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Males are distinguished by their fiery orange-red gorget and bronzy-green upper plumage that glows with shifting iridescence. In Gould’s hand-colored lithograph, the bird is portrayed hovering beside delicate blossoms, its minute body rendered with extraordinary precision. The metallic pigments used in the plate replicate the living sparkle of its plumage, giving the image the same quick, dazzling energy that defines the species in flight. John Gould’s Monograph of the Trochilidae remains one of the most ambitious and visually magnificent works of nineteenth-century natural history. Spanning nearly forty years, it united Gould’s exacting field observations with the artistry of Henry Constantine Richter and William Hart. The Scintillant Hummingbird plate captures the essence of Gould’s achievement—transforming a creature barely larger than a bee into a radiant example of scientific illustration elevated to fine art.

• ADDITIONAL INFO: With text sheet.

• CONDITION: Very good condition with original color.

• REFERENCE: Fine Bird Books, #102.

• CATEGORIES: 18th-19th Century Subjects , Natural History - Birds , John Gould - Hummingbirds