The Indri of Madagascar, First Named by Sonnerat, Antique Plate, 1806

An original antique plate from Sonnerat's Voyage aux Indes Orientales et a la Chine, numbered 86, showing the indri of Madagascar, the largest of the living lemurs, upright against a plain ground with a scale bar beneath. Beneath the image the sheet is lettered L'Indri., with P. Sonnerat pinx. at the lower left and Desmoulins sculp. at the lower right, and the plate number 86 at the upper right.

This plate belongs to the Collection de planches pour servir au Voyage aux Indes Orientales et a la Chine, published in Paris by Dentu in 1806. It is the plate volume that accompanies Sonnerat's account of the years he spent in India, China, Malacca, Madagascar and the islands of the Indian Ocean as a naturalist and naval commissary in the service of France. The image is a copper engraving, printed in black on laid paper with a clear plate mark, the lettering cut below the image in the same plate. No color was applied, which is how the volume was issued.

The mammal plates are the part of the volume that natural history collectors pursue. Several of the animals Sonnerat drew were new to European science when the book appeared, and the Madagascar sheets in particular are among the earliest printed images of their subjects. The indri owes its European name to this voyage. Sonnerat recorded the word from a Malagasy guide, and the name has stayed with the animal ever since, whether or not the guide was naming the creature or simply saying look. The plate is among the earliest printed images of the largest living lemur.

Noticeable uneven toning. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

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