White's Thrush with Scalloped Plumage, Hand Colored Print, Morris, 1896

An original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "WHITE'S THRUSH." A single large thrush perches in right profile on a branch that slopes down to the right, the long tail extending to the lower left. The whole bird is golden brown to tawny, every feather edged with a black crescent, so that the head, back and wings are densely scalloped. The underparts are white with black crescents, the bill and legs pale buff. Behind the bird at the upper left a leafy twig carries three broad, pointed gray green leaves.

The caption "WHITE'S THRUSH." is engraved in capitals below the picture, with a full stop. No plate number or engraver's credit appears on the plate. The bold crescent markings over the whole body are the feature by which this thrush is most easily known.

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.