Black-Throated Wheatear on a Grassy Mound, Hand Colored Print, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "BLACK-THROATED WHEATEAR." A single bird stands on a low grassy mound, facing to the right with its body level and the head up, the tail held out behind to the left. The face and throat are black, the crown pale, the back sandy buff and the underparts creamy white, while the wings are blackish brown. The tail is white at the base and black at the tip. The mound is washed olive green, with a small grass tuft and a pebble at the left, and a pale gray hill rises in the distance.

The caption is engraved in spaced capitals below the picture: "BLACK-THROATED WHEATEAR." There is no number or other lettering above the picture, and no engraver's credit within it. The bird is named on the plate by its English name only.

This plate comes from the fourth edition of A History of British Birds by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), rector of Nunburnholme in Yorkshire, who wrote the text. The edition was issued in six volumes by John C. Nimmo of London, and this plate belongs to the third volume, whose title page is dated 1896 and states that the plates are colored by hand. The wood blocks for the plates of the work were engraved by Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield in Yorkshire. Each plate combines an engraved black key block with a printed gray tint, finished by hand in watercolor.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.