Offering of the Day: A Unique Ornithological Album Comprised of Watercolor Paintings with Acual Bird Feathers

 Artist unknown

First half of the 19th century

Unique collection of 134 featherbird-pictures including a few with a squirrel, fox and deer

All unsigned; a few annotated in German with the specifics in contemporary hand

Watercolor and bird's feathers on paper

South Jutland/ Germany

64 pictures on 64 sheets - approximately 17 x 13 1/2 inches

40 pictures on 20 sheets - apx. 14 x 8 1/2 inches

30 pictures on 10 sheets  - apx. 8 ½ x 6 3/4 inches

All mounted on paper measuring 18 1/4 x 27 inches and bound in a full cloth binding with two ties, elephant folio

Retail: $450,000

This unique collection of featherbird - pictures presents a multitude of different bird species - from the East Indian woodpecker to the black falcon. The pictures are obviously made

of one or more connoisseurs with great precision and charm.

The tradition dates back to the 16th-17th century where the feather birds were popular collector's items among hunters and in art rooms. Later in the 1800s, the tradition became more common and the pictures were now produced in large numbers in both Germany and England, but also on Als in Denmark, where the forest ranger Wilhelm Kiebitz (d. 1869) through the years had a significant production.