Insect Pit Traps in Sand, Antique Bertuch Print, circa 1805

This hand colored copper engraving shows a series of funnel shaped pits dug in sand, each with a small larva at its center, and a long spiralling trail, from the Vienna edition of Friedrich Justin Bertuch's Bilderbuch engraved by J. J. Schmuzer. The plate probably illustrates the pit traps of an ant lion or a related insect, but the subject has not been established with confidence. The specific subject is not yet established and is being checked against the Bilderbuch text.

The heading reads Insecten, Insecta and Insectes, plate XLIII, and the mark at lower right reads X.B.33 beneath the signature J. J. Schmuzer. The pits are rendered in fine stipple and shaded in rose and brown, a small red brown winged insect sits at the rim of one of them, and a tuft of green plants closes the scene at the foot.

The Vienna edition was published by Anton Pichler under the title Bilderbuch zum Nutzen und Vergnügen der Jugend, with German and French text, in volumes of fifty plates each, and its plates were newly engraved in Vienna, many of them by the brothers Jacob Xaver and J. J. Schmuzer. It follows the Weimar original of Friedrich Justin Bertuch, the great illustrated encyclopaedia for children issued by the Landes Industrie Comptoir from 1790 onwards, subject for subject, and it was sold with the plates colored by hand. The small mark at the foot, giving the Vienna volume and plate number, is what distinguishes these sheets from the Weimar issue. As a copper engraving colored by hand for a teaching book, it combines scientific ambition with a direct, appealing clarity. This sheet comes from Vienna volume X, which places it circa 1801 to 1807.

A plate like this suits a study, a library or a collection of early natural history, and it hangs well in a group with other Bertuch insect and microscope plates, where the variety of subjects and the consistent format of the series come into their own.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few small spots and a small nick at the lower right edge; the image is clean.

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