Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Brazilian Bird Print, Descourtilz, 1944

Guianan cock-of-the-rock print after Descourtilz from the 1944 Ornitologia Brasileira: Estampa 38, a color offset print of Brazilian birds reproducing a painting by Jean-Théodore Descourtilz.

Four birds are set among broad leaves and a pile of gray rock. At upper left, a reddish-brown bird with a small crest and dark wings perches on a large leaf. Below it, a second bird, its back streaked and its breast spotted in brown and cream, stands on a bare branch with pale pink legs. To the right, a third bird, plainer brown with a pale stripe above the eye, perches at a similar height among the leaves. At the base of the composition, the fourth and by far the most striking bird stands on the rocks: its plumage is a vivid orange throughout, its head crowned by a tall, fully spread fan of feathers that all but conceals the bill, its wing feathers barred in dark brown and white beneath long orange plumes, its fanned tail dark brown edged in yellow, and its legs bright yellow. The fan crest and fringed wing plumes identify it as the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, Rupicola rupicola, a bird of northern Brazil and the Guianas that nests on rock faces, which explains the stone setting. The rocks beneath it are rendered in cool gray-blue tones that set off the warmth of its plumage.

The plate comes from the Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos, issued in 1944 by Livraria Kosmos Editora of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. First published in French in the 1850s, the work appeared here in its first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos and limited to 1,315 copies, 1,000 plus 315 numbered. Each of its 48 color offset plates is captioned "Estampa" with its number and mounted on a toned card with a printed green ornamental border.

Descourtilz, a French painter and naturalist who lived from circa 1796 to 1855, traveled to Brazil in the late 1820s and devoted himself to painting its birds. His first work on the birds of Brazil appeared in 1834.

This Guianan cock-of-the-rock print after Descourtilz is decorative and strong in color, and works well framed on its own in a study or hallway or hung with other Brazilian bird prints from the same volume.

This plate is in good condition for its age. The mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots and light wear to the edges; the image itself is clean. Please review the images for further condition details.