Purple Heron Wading Among Reeds, Plate CLI after Lilian Medland, c. 1909

This is an original antique bird print, a photogravure printed in black and gray tones without added color. It shows an adult Purple Heron wading in shallow water among reeds, the bird facing the viewer's right with the long, thin neck raised in an S curve. The black crown and long black crest plumes, the dark stripe running from the bill down the side of the slender neck, the streaked foreneck and the dark shoulder patch are all clearly drawn. One leg is lifted with the toes curled, and tall reeds rise behind.

The plate is lettered "PLATE CLI" at lower right and "1/4 scale" at lower center, the scale at which the bird is drawn. The artist's signature, "L. M. Medland", is drawn into the image. No species name is printed on the plate; the identification given here is made from the drawing itself.

The plate comes from The Birds of the British Islands by Charles Stonham, published in London by E. Grant Richards in five volumes between 1906 and 1911. This plate belongs to the third volume. The illustrations were drawn by Lilian M. Medland and reproduced by photogravure, a photomechanical intaglio process that carries the soft gradations of a wash drawing and leaves a plate mark around the image. Stonham's text follows the birds in systematic order, and this volume moves through the cormorants, gannet, herons, storks, ibis and spoonbill to the geese and ducks.

The monochrome image suits a simple frame with a wide mat, and it works well alone or alongside other plates from the same volume.

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