Wheatear Standing by Water, Antique Hand Colored Bird Print, Morris, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "WHEATEAR." A single bird stands upright on a low flat-topped block, facing to the right, with the tail angled down behind it to the left. The crown and back are blue gray, a white stripe runs over the eye above a black mask, the throat and breast are buff, and the wings are black. The tail is white at the base with a broad black band at the tip. The top of the block is washed pale green, grass grows around its base, and pale blue water with a low bank at the left lies behind.

The caption is engraved in spaced capitals below the picture: "WHEATEAR." There is no number or other lettering above the picture, and no engraver's credit within it. The Wheatear is Oenanthe oenanthe; the gray back and black mask shown here mark the adult male.

This 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, who wrote the text. The edition was issued in six volumes by John C. Nimmo of London, and this 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.