Sunday, October 17, 2010

Chinese Bird Album

Bird Album j



Bird Album j (detail)



Bird Album d



Bird Album f



Bird Album g



Bird Album g (detail)



Bird Album



Bird Album a



Bird Album a (detail)



Bird Album



Bird Album b



Bird Album c



Bird Album c (detail)



Bird Album e



Bird Album h



Bird Album h (detail)



Bird Album i



Bird Album i (detail)


[click through to full-sized versions; all images are spliced together
from screencaps; some background blemishes have been removed]


This exquisite gouache album of bird paintings from China was sketched in the 19th century and is available online at the Royal Digital Library of Belgium.

The album may have been produced to cater to a strong European market for Oriental artworks, although no definitive information about these sketches has been retained. It is a stable-mate of another (stylistically similar) anonymous watercolour sketch album owned by the Belgian Library, featured here on BibliOdyssey a few months ago: The Butterfly Album.

Previously: fauna.

9 comments:

  1. Yes, exquisite. thank you, as ever, for your incredibly beautiful collections.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are just beautiful! How inspiring :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice collection, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marvellous paintings.Colors like dreams...

    ReplyDelete
  5. As someone constantly searching for reference (and reference with information), what can I say but thanks for your great site, thanks for SHARING. The academic world should take note: you're a role model, old bean.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The bird book link goes to the butterfly book.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks all.

    Ha! Thanks Jake, I'm surprised noone said so before, but the link is now updated.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are all moderated so don't waste your time spamming: they will never show up.

If you include ANY links that aren't pertinent to the blog post or discussion they will be deleted and a rash will break out in your underwear.

Also: please play the ball and not the person.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.