White Stork Standing on One Leg, Plate CLVI after Lilian Medland, c. 1909

This is an original antique bird print, a photogravure printed in black and gray tones without added color. It shows a White Stork standing on one leg on the squared edge of a ledge, facing the viewer's left, the other leg raised and bent forward. The white head, neck and body contrast with the black flight feathers of the folded wing. The long straight bill is angled downward, the loose white feathers of the foreneck hang over the breast, and the bare leg and foot are drawn with care.

The plate is lettered "PLATE CLVI" at lower right and "1/4 scale" at lower center, the scale at which the bird is drawn. The artist's signature, "L. M. Medland", is drawn into the image. No species name is printed on the plate; the identification given here is made from the drawing itself.

This plate is from the third volume of The Birds of the British Islands by Charles Stonham, published by E. Grant Richards in London in five volumes between 1906 and 1911. The drawings are by Lilian M. Medland, and the plates were printed by photogravure, an intaglio process made from a photograph of the drawing, which gives the soft, continuous tone and the faint plate mark visible on the sheet. Each bird is shown at a stated fraction of life size, printed beneath the image.

A plain wood or black frame with a wide off white mat suits the quiet tones of this plate.

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