Flat Fish on a Sandy Shore, Antique Chromolithograph by P. J. Smit, 1896

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, from 1896. The caption printed beneath the image reads "FLAT FISH."

Six flat fish lie heaped on the sand at the foot of a grassy dune, with the sea and a pale sky behind. The largest, a long gray fish, lies diagonally across the upper part of the group with its toothed mouth open at the right. Below it a broad brown fish speckled with dark spots rests in the center, its head at the left. At the lower right a fish marked with orange spots lies under a smaller dark fish, at the left a fish turned over shows its white underside, and along the bottom a slim brown fish lies with its head to the right. Tall dune grass rises at both sides, a gull flies across the sky at the upper left, and a small shell sits beside the signature.

The plate is signed in the image at the lower right by P. J. Smit. No plate number or printer's line appears on the sheet.

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. Handling soiling along the left, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Remains of a paper guard along the right edge.

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