Blackbird on Grassy Ground, Antique Hand Colored Bird Print, Morris, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "BLACKBIRD." A single all black bird stands on open ground facing to the right, its body tipped forward over the legs and the long tail raised behind it toward the upper left. A bright yellow bill and a yellow eye ring are the only strong color on the bird, set off by finely engraved plumage in black and dark gray. At the left a tuft of pale grass rises from olive green turf that runs into sandy ground, and in the lower left foreground a small fruit with pointed sepals lies beside a leaf.

The caption is engraved in spaced capitals below the picture: "BLACKBIRD." There is no number or other lettering above the picture, and no engraver's credit within it. The Blackbird is Turdus merula; the all black plumage with a yellow bill shown here is that of the adult male.

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.