Starling on a Stone Ledge, Hand Colored Wood Engraving, Morris, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "STARLING." A single starling stands in left profile on a flat stone slab, head up and bill closed, with a low wall of dressed stone blocks, washed pale gray, behind it. The head is glossy dark green, the throat and neck carry purple and magenta tints, and the dark body is spangled with yellow ochre spots on the back and pale blue tips below. The wings are dark with buff edges, the bill yellow, and the legs and feet buff yellow.

The caption "STARLING." is engraved in capitals below the picture, with a full stop. No plate number or engraver's credit appears on the plate. The Starling is Sturnus vulgaris.

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.