Redwing on a Green Branch, Hand Colored Bird Print, Morris, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "REDWING." A single redwing perches on a slender branch that runs from the lower left to the upper right, the speckled breast turned toward the left and the head in profile facing right. The upperparts are dark olive brown, with a creamy white stripe over the eye and a dark cheek. The white underparts are boldly streaked with dark spots, and a rust orange patch covers the side of the breast and flank. The pale buff tail hangs below to the right. The branch is washed green and blue gray, with a forked twig at its top and another below.

The caption "REDWING." is engraved in capitals below the picture, with a full stop. No plate number or engraver's credit appears on the plate. The Redwing is Turdus iliacus, named for the rusty red patch on its flank.

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.