Madame Pauline Knip Engravings of a Pigeon, Plate 16, Columba Guinea

Details

Description

Ornithological Masterpiece: Madame Knip's 'Colombe Roussard, Mâle' Engraving

This is a large and magnificent Hand-Colored Engraving of a pigeon, titled … Read more Ornithological Masterpiece: Madame Knip's 'Colombe Roussard, Mâle' Engraving

This is a large and magnificent Hand-Colored Engraving of a pigeon, titled "Colombe Roussard, Mâle" (The Bronze-winged Pigeon, Male), from the extremely rare and influential ornithological work, Les Pigeons.

The original artwork was created by the French bird artist Pauline Knip (née Rifer de Courcelles), and the plate was printed during the final years of the Napoleonic Empire.

Subject:
The print meticulously and naturalistically depicts a Bronze-winged Pigeon (Columba Guinea, Lath.) perched on a mossy branch. The bird's plumage is richly detailed, showing the glossy gray body, the characteristic reddish-pink chest, and the spotted, dark wings.

Technique:
The work is a multi-step print, featuring color printing (likely utilizing the à la poupée method or similar for the base colors) and meticulously finished with hand-coloring to achieve the lifelike vibrancy and tonal depth.

Presentation:
The print is presented in a classic modern museum style, "floating" within a gilt frame and white matting, protected by high-quality UV Tru-view Clear UV Glass to preserve the delicate coloration.

Inscription:
The plate is identified at the bottom as "Colombe Roussard, Mâle. / COLUMBA GUINEA, Lath." and numbered Plate 16.

Artist: Madame Pauline Knip (née de Courcelles, 1781–1851)
Publication: Les pigeons par Madame Knip...Date: circa 1809–1811 (Paris)
Medium: Color-printed and Hand-Colored Engraving

Dimensions (Framed): 28 3/4 inches High × 21 3/4 inches Wide × 1 1/4 inches Deep
(Sight): 20 3/4 inches High × 13 1/4 inches Wide

Historical Context:
Napoleonic Science and Artistic Intrigue

This engraving belongs to one of the most artistically successful and historically controversial works in ornithology, produced during a major period of French scientific discovery.

Les Pigeons (1809–1811)
This multi-volume work, with text by renowned zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck, was a comprehensive study of pigeons and gallinaceous birds. The lavish and scientifically accurate illustrations were the work of Pauline Knip. However, the publication's history is complicated by Madame Knip's pretension: she essentially usurped the project from its original collaborators, claiming full artistic credit and publication rights and substituting her name for the original author, Charles-Joseph Themminck, on the first volume's title page, leading to significant academic feuding.

Pauline Knip's Legacy
Despite the controversy documented by scholars, Knip's artistic contributions are undeniable. She was one of the most successful female natural history artists of her time. Her skill in creating beautiful and highly detailed bird portraits, which combined the precision required for scientific classification with an appealing aesthetic, ensured the initial success of the publication. The resulting plates remain celebrated examples of the early 19th century’s commitment to documenting the natural world.

References
Knip, Pauline, and Temminck, C. J. Les pigeons par Madame Knip, née Pauline de Courcelles ; le texte par C.J. Themminck (Paris, 1809–1811). (Original publication source).

Neuman, Alexandra K. "Publishing, Pretense, and Pigeons: The Case of Madame Knip." Smithsonian Libraries Blog (2017). (Scholarly source discussing the historical context and controversy surrounding the book's authorship).

Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History (Smithsonian) and other natural history libraries, which hold copies of this rare work.

(Ref: NY09698-05) See less