Antique Lithographs, Engravings and Photos

[Trace]

I’m always on the lookout for interesting chameleon related artwork, photos and books and I thought you guys might enjoy these odd old pieces that I’ve accumulated over the years. I’ve come to the realization that I should delve into the history of these works and document them before I forget so this is some of what I’ve learned. The scans are for my own documentation purposes only so I’ve cropped he extraneous bits but the colours, wear and staining of the original pieces are true.

Original art by Johann Georg Beck. Engraved and printed by Henry Winkles in 1851.
‘Crocodile eating Child’

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Giambattista della Porta
‘The Wolf and the Chameleon’ taken from Animal Physiognomy Circa 1590
Hand coloured copper engraving.

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Jean Ignace Isodore Gerard Grandville
‘The Chameleon’ from Scenes de la vie des animaux First edition. 1842
Hand coloured engraving

The text underneath roughly translates to ‘The Chameleon is happy and proud to always be of the same opinion as everyone else’. A satirical comment on politicians of the day perhaps?

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Original art by Joannes Jonstonus and engraved by Matthias Merian
‘Crocodile/Chameleon/Turtle’ taken from Historia Naturalis 1657
Hand coloured copper engraving on wove paper
(My rough translation of the Chamæleon Cinereus Verus is Grey Chameleon. Anyone know what the species is named today?

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Acme Newspictures (Acme Photo)
‘Angelina’ July 25 1950
Crop marks and retouching of the background remain.

Hope you enjoyed this little art history lesson.
Cheers,
Trace

 

[crocky]

Hot dang! I love this kind of stuff! How cool are those!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Very cool! I love antique pieces like this and am always on the lookout for cool stuff like this. You have an awesome collection!

 

[Zen Reptiles]

I love this kinda stuff! Thanks for sharing, cool finds! Where do you get most of it?

 

[Olimpia]

That's awesome! I have a collection as well but nothing chameleon related yet. But every time I go to NYC I hit up those little antique markets and always come home with vintage prints and engravings, always of animal anatomy.

 

[Txherp]

Those are awesome

 

[Randi]

I collect vintage and antique photographs (mostly sideshow/freak/post-mortems... the weirder, the better), and I love these!

 

[poppototamus]

These are so cool, especially the woman with the meller's in 1950, she looks so happy!

 

[Chris Anderson]

Wow, just saw this now. Some of these are incredible finds! I have a few as well framed and on my wall. Need to get photos of them at some point to share too I guess.

Chamaeleo cinereus is synonymous with Chamaeleo chamaeleon now.

Chris

 

[vettpoor]

Neat stuff, thanks for sharing....

 

[deadhd5]

Nominee - Best Post - 2013

 

[Trace]

Wow, just saw this now. Some of these are incredible finds! I have a few as well framed and on my wall. Need to get photos of them at some point to share too I guess.

Chamaeleo cinereus is synonymous with Chamaeleo chamaeleon now.

Chris

Awesome! Thank you. I should have guessed something like that considering the small casque and ear flaps. I was mulling verrucosus considering the old name. I’m sure you have some cool old stuff as well; I'd be interested in seeing it.

It’s been interesting not only researching the individual piece but learning about history and naturalists of the time that were associated with the art itself. I’m glad everyone enjoyed this thread.

Cheers,
Trace

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Trace that is a neat angle to the chameleon hobby. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Trace]

For those of you interested in these old artworks I’ve come across a few new pieces for my collection.

Pietro Andrea Mattioli
‘Chameleon’ taken from Commentaires sur les six livres de Ped. Dioscoride 1572.
Handcoloured Woodcut

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Original art by Joannes Jonston and engraved by Matthias Merian
‘Crocodile/Chameleon/Lizard’ taken from Historia Naturalis 1657
Hand coloured copper engraving on wove paper.
(Slightly different than the one pictured above)

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Heinrich Rudolf Schinz
‘Chamaeleo africanus and Chamaeleo bifidus' taken from Naturgeschichte und Abildungen der Reptilien 1833
Hand coloured Lithograph.

Cheers!
Trace

 

[Trace]

And I’ve added a few more interesting pieces since last year:

I think Chris Anderson and Motherlode Chameleon will like this one:

Robert Mintern
Chamaeleon Globifer taken from Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London 1879
Hand coloured lithograph.

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Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre
Histoire Naturelle. 1. Squelette du Lezard Cameleon 2. Le L. Cameleon 3. Le L. Cameleon du Cap de Bonne-Esperance. (Natural History. Reptiles. 1. Skeleton of the Chameleon - 2. Chameleon - 3. Chameleon of Cape of Good Hope.) taken from Encyclopedie Methodique ou par ordre de matieres 1789
Original etching and engraving on verge type hand laid paper.

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Artist unknown. Publisher: Giovanni Battista Albrizzi
Camaleonte sulla Costa suddetta taken from Lo stato presente di tutti i paesi e popoli del mondo...." 1756
Copper plate etching.

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Sydenham Edwards
Natural History: Lacerta taken from Pantologia 1813

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André Marie Constant Duméril
Madagascar Warty Chameleon taken from General Herpatology, or Natural History of the Reptiles 1854
Hand coloured copper engraving on wove paper.

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Jean Ignace Isodore Gerard Grandville
‘The Chameleon’ from Scenes de la vie des animaux First edition. 1842
Hand coloured engraving
(Different colours from the one pictured above)

Cheers,
Trace

 

[Chris Anderson]

You've built up an awesome collection of these, Trace! Definitely more extensive than mine. I have a couple different ones, but you have most of the ones I have, including quite a few that I don't.

I'm curious if you know anything about determining whether the colorings were done near the time of publication or are contemporary colorings? As you probably know, originally when these books were published (at least the older ones), these were just black engravings. In some cases, however, they were sent out to be hand colored, either before being bound (if requested by the buyer ahead of time), or often years later when the buyer could afford to have it done. Unfortunately, too often these colorings are done more recently, catering to trends from interior decorators trying to make rooms/houses look rustic or distinguished. I don't know how to distinguish when the hand coloring was done (it can be done in a way so that it looks old) and as a result, I've been hesitant to buy many of the colored engravings. I have one engraving in particular, for instance, that I'm suspicious of the color having been done recently. As a result, I have more recently been sticking to the original non-colored engravings.

Its also interesting how some of these works were reused in later books. For instance, the chameleons in your engraving from John Mason Good's 1813 Pantologia were previously used in one of George Shaw's 1808 General Zoology, where it was bound sideways without the basilisk (I have an original, non-colored copy of this). Similarly, I have a rendition of the artwork in the lower panel of your "Crocodile eating Child" piece from another book (although I don't know the specific reference at the moment). Finally, I'm sure you noticed the different lower drawing in your John Jonston engravings. I have a non-color version of the second (with the lizard in the lower panel) and from what I can find, this one was from Volume 1 of Matthias Merian's Historia Naturalis (Historiae naturalis de quadrupedibus libri) published in 1657. Obviously, however, the two versions you have are from different books (editions/volumes?), but I don't know where the other was published. Its definitely interesting looking at all of them!

Thanks for sharing these!

Chris