Woodpeckers at a Tree Stump, Brazilian Bird Print, Descourtilz, 1944

Woodpeckers print after Descourtilz, Estampa 19 of the Ornitologia Brasileira, published in Rio de Janeiro in 1944 and printed in color by offset from Jean-Théodore Descourtilz's own painting.

A weathered, broken tree stump serves as the setting for four woodpeckers of differing size. At upper left, a bird with a yellow-green, black-barred back and a face marked in red and purple, with a dark stripe at the base of the bill, climbs the side of the stump. At upper right, a much smaller bird with buff-brown, dark-barred plumage hangs from a slender green twig extending from the stump. Lower and to the left, a second small woodpecker, green and yellow with a patch of red on the crown, clings to the timber close to a knot in the wood. At the base of the stump, the largest of the four shows a red head and crest, a black body, and a broad orange-tan patch across the folded wing, its legs blue-gray and its long tail braced against the wood in typical woodpecker fashion. The stump itself is rendered with considerable care, its bark textured in brick-like segments and marked with knots and old wounds in ochre and rust.

The Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos was published by Livraria Kosmos Editora in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 1944: the first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos, of a work first published in French in the 1850s, limited to 1,315 copies (1,000 plus 315 numbered). Its 48 color offset plates reproduce Descourtilz's own paintings of Brazilian birds, each captioned "Estampa" with its number and mounted on a toned card within a printed green ornamental border.

The artist, Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (circa 1796 to 1855), was a French painter and naturalist. He traveled to Brazil in the late 1820s, devoted himself to painting its birds, and published his first work on the birds of Brazil in 1834.

Decorative and strong in color, this woodpeckers print after Descourtilz would frame well for a study, library or garden room, or sit alongside other Brazilian bird prints in a natural history collection.

This plate is in good condition for its age. The mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots and light wear to the edges; the image itself is clean. Please review the images for further condition details.