1. Petite Mouette cendree. 2. Mouette cendree tachetee.
An original copper plate engraving of a Small Grey Seagull and a Spotted Grey Seagull.
Drawn and engraved by Francois-Nicholas Martinet.
Hand coloured. Printed on strong cream coloured paper.
From The Comte de Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, published in Paris from 1770 to 1786. Book 6. Plate 17.
Size: 25 x 34.7 cms with the engraved part of the image measuring 21 x 24.4cms.
Dated 1770.
Condition: Very Good. There is a strong crease running vertically through the center of engraving and a lesser crease to the far left. This is in consequence of the image having been folded into a book. There are some very small spots of foxing across the paper that do not particularly affect the engraved part of the image itself; also a blue mark at the top which is again outside of the frame of the engraved part of the piece. It is otherwise fresh and clean.
