Dipper on a Rock at the Water's Edge, Antique Bird Print, Morris, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "DIPPER." A single dipper stands in right profile on a flat rock at the water's edge, the body tipped forward and the short tail cocked up. The head is warm brown, the throat and breast bright white, bordered below by a chestnut band, and the back, wings and belly slate gray. The rock is washed olive and khaki, larger rocks behind are drawn in outline with a pale blue gray wash, and the water is rendered in fine horizontal lines.

The caption "DIPPER." is engraved in capitals below the picture, with a full stop. No plate number or engraver's credit appears on the plate. The Dipper is Cinclus cinclus.

The 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. This edition was issued in six volumes by John C. Nimmo, London, and the 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.