Trochilus Buffonii, Native Brazil (Buffon's Humming-Bird)

Object NamePrint

Artist / Maker Walter Home Lizars (Scottish, 1788 - 1859)

Date1854

MediumPrint

Dimensions3 3/4 × 6 1/2 in. (9.5 × 16.5 cm) Other (Framed): 10 × 12 3/4 in. (25.4 × 32.4 cm)

ClassificationsPrints and Printing Plates

Credit LineTranferred from Home Management Department. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number74.10.64b

Status

Not on view

Collections

Works of Art on Paper & Photography

CultureScottish

Label TextIn Victorian times there was a heightened fascination with the natural world and book illustrations were able to richly provide access to exotic species right in the home. William Home Lizars (1788 – 1859) was a Scottish painter, engraver and publisher. Lizars is known to have perfected a high relief method of etching away the background of a copper plate to produce a relief surface similar to that in a wood engraving. In the years 1833-43 he published "The Naturalist's Library," a series of 40 volumes which was edited by Scottish naturalist Sir William Jardine. This engraving is part of a series of hummingbird prints finely engraved and hand-colored by Lizars for Sir William Jardine’s (1800-1874), a naturalist who was particularly keen on ornithology, “Naturalist’s Library" series of hummingbirds published in London circa 1845. Utilizing the expertise of eminent naturalists in each field, Jardine ultimately employed his brother-in-law Lizars to engrave over 1,200 different species of animals, fish, birds and insects. These engravings by Lizars are considered by many the finest miniature nature portraits ever done. Five hummingbird prints and three other bird prints by Lizars are in the Farm House Museum collection courtesy of a departmental transfer.

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