18th-Century Pair of French Hand-Colored Copperplate Engravings of Exotic Birds, by François-Nicolas Martinet

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This pair of large-scale antique bird prints consists of authentic 18th-century copperplate engravings sourced from the famous “Recueil de Planches” … Read more This pair of large-scale antique bird prints consists of authentic 18th-century copperplate engravings sourced from the famous “Recueil de Planches” (AbeBooks) volumes of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's historic “Encyclopédie.” At 16.5 inches by 11 inches, these are large full-folio sheets boasting exceptional margins. These prints were produced circa 1768 in Paris, France during an era which represents the pinnacle of early zoological cataloging, driven by the historicism movement and the global exploration of newly documented species.

CREATOR & CONTENT: The illustrations were designed and engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet (c. 1731–1800), one of the most prolific French natural history artists of the Enlightenment. On the left side is Plate XXXII (32): Fig. 1, Pie-Grièche de Madagascar (Madagascar Shrike); Fig. 2: Tangara Cardinal du Brésil (Brazilian Red Cardinal Tanager); Fig. 3: La Veuve à Quatre Brins (Shaft-tailed Whydah / Bunting); Fig. 4: Manakin de Cayenne (Cayenne Manakin);
On the right side is Plate XXXVI (36): Fig. 1: Promérops du Cap de Bonne Espérance (Cape Sugarbird); Fig. 2: Guêpier de Madagascar (Madagascar Bee-eater); Fig. 3: Martin-Pêcheur des Philippines (Philippine Kingfisher); Fig. 4: Todier de St. Domingue (Hispaniolan Tody); Fig. 5: Pic de Cayenne (Spot-breasted Woodpecker).

AUTHENTICITY: Each print began as a hand-inked impression pulled from an etched copper plate onto handmade, heavy laid rag paper. Diderot's plate volumes were originally published uncolored in black and white. These examples feature spectacular, highly detailed, later hand-applied watercolor washes. The backs of the sheets show the ghostly, organic mirroring exactly as one would expect as the wet watercolor pigments soaked into the porous 18th-century paper fibers over time. This is a primary indicator of genuine hand-coloring, missing from modern digital or mechanical reproduction prints.

MARKINGS: The original species drawings were provided by the naturalist artist François-Nicolas Martinet, but his name is often absent or truncated on specific plate groupings within the encyclopedic volumes.
At the lower-right baseline of the rectangular frame enclosing the birds is a small, elegant engraving stamp (ÆB): The letters stand for Antoine-Bonaventure Baron, a prominent Parisian engraver active during the mid-to-late 18th century. The small "s." is Latin shorthand for sculpsit ("he engraved it"). Antoine-Bonaventure Baron was the master craftsman who physically sat at the workbench, held the burin, and carved these specific bird plates into the copper sheets.
Incidentally, plate 32 and plate 36 sit very close to each other chronologically within the bird sequence. Because they share identical formatting, matching paper types, matching margins, and the same engraver's monogram (ÆB s.), it proves these two sheets were originally bound together in the very same volume. They have stayed together as a true matching pair since they were printed more than 250 years ago.

Signature/Maker’s Mark: Engraver’s monogram, bottom right outside border (photo #16). See less