Chimaera, Antique Deep Sea Fish Chromolithograph by P. J. Smit, 1896

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, from 1896. The caption printed beneath the image reads "CHIMÆRA", the name of the group of cartilaginous fish shown in the picture.

A single chimaera fills the width of the plate, swimming through rolling gray green water with its head to the left. The blunt snout is speckled with dark pores, the large pale eye is ringed in black, and a tall pointed first dorsal fin rises behind the head. The broad pectoral and pelvic fins hang below the body, and the long body narrows into a slender tail that sweeps down to the lower right and ends in a fine wavering filament. Light breaks through the crests of the swell in pale bands, and a large yellow disc of sun or moon sits low on the horizon at the upper right, half hidden by a wave.

The plate is signed in the image at the lower left by P. J. Smit. There is no other credit or plate number on the sheet; the caption is the only printed line in the margin.

The plate comes from The Royal Natural History, a popular illustrated natural history in six volumes edited by the zoologist Richard Lydekker and published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. in 1893 to 1896. The title page that accompanies these plates is dated 1896, which is the date given for this sheet.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin, heavier along the left side.

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