Cassique Huppe is a painting by Philip Ralley which was uploaded on October 27th, 2015.
Cassique Huppe
Descourtilz Plate 35 - Cassique Huppe - from Birds of Brazil, published in 1834. ... more
Title
Cassique Huppe
Artist
Philip Ralley
Medium
Painting - Print
Description
Descourtilz Plate 35 - Cassique Huppe - from Birds of Brazil, published in 1834.
Jean-Theodore Descourtilz was born in 1796 in France, the son of Michel Etienne Descourtilz (1775-1836), a physician and botanist who wrote Flore pittoresque et médicale des Antilles (1821-1829). This definitive work was illustrated by 600 plates which were the work of Jean-Theodore.
After arriving in Brazil around 1826 and and travelling extensively around the different regions of the country Jean-Theodore produced an illustrated manuscript on hummingbirds which he presented to the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro. In 1834, Descourtilz published his first book, Oiseaux brillans et remarquables du Brésil, containing 60 beautifully coloured plates lithographed by Callier. There appears to have been no title page or text in the published edition, however the copy held by the British Natural History Museum has a handwritten title page and a page of text for each illustrated species. It is notable that Descourtilz illustrated the birds on appropriate food plants and captured detailed information on habits, customs, behaviour and habitat as well as the usual dates and location. This book is one of the rarest tomes of birds of the Americas with only four known copies believed to be in existence.
Between 1852 and 1856, Descourtilz's book Ornithologie Brésilienne, ou Histoire des Oiseaux de Brésil, remarquables par leur plumage, leur chant ou leurs habitudes was published in four parts. Forty-eight of the plates were developed from Oiseaux brillans du Brésil, and it contains fifteen species and one genus previously undiscovered. The National Museum of Brazil recruited Descourtilz in 1854, but sadly he passed away the following year. Very little is known about his life, and he is buried near Aracruz, near the coast of Brazil a few hundred kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro.
All of the plates which we offer here are reprints from scans of the 1834 edition of Oiseaux brillans du Brésil by Jean Theodore Descourtilz. We acknowledge the work of the Biodiversity Heritage Library in making them available for reproduction. We would also like to thank the British Natural History Museum which owns the original publication for making it available and Alison Harding, Librarian, Ornithology and Rothschild Libraries for her research into the life and work of Descourteliz.
Uploaded
October 27th, 2015
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