Art History Animalia

A Perfect Day for An Albatross A Perfect Day for An Albatross [Loebel-Fried, Caren, Loebel-Fried, Caren] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A Perfect Day for An Albatross

#BookRecommendation :
A Perfect Day for An Albatross by Caren Loebel-Fried (2017)
amzn.to/4ohl6ZY via #AmazonAssociates
#BirdsInArt #AvianAugust

“Albatross in Flight depicts a Laysan albatross parent bringing back a meal of squid as an oil in her stomach to her awaiting youngster. From the book, A Perfect Day for an Albatross”

#AvianAugust Hawaiian #Birds Day 2:
Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis)
🚨 IUCN Red List: NEAR THREATENED
“Albatross in Flight”
Hand-pulled, hand-colored block print by artist-author Caren Loebel-Fried from her book A Perfect Day for an Albatross (2017)
www.carenloebelfried.com/color-art-ga...

A red-figure cup with two handles, featuring a central depiction of a stylized owl flanked by olive leaves. The owl is painted in a reddish-brown hue against the black background.

#SaturdayMorningMood: a #Greek skyphos (a two handled drinking cup), decorated with an adorable #owl.

Dating second half of the 5th century BC.

On display at Museum August Kestner, Hannover.

📷 me

🏺

My photo shows a Minoan stone rhyton (ritual vessel) in the shape of a lioness’s head, carved from translucent limestone which appears creamy-yellow in colour. The naturalistically carved lioness’s face is viewed from the front. The holes for the two eyes and nose were originally inlaid with materials which have not survived The stone around both ears is chipped. Length 29.5cm. A rhyton is a type of ritual pitcher used to pour liquid offerings. On display at Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete.

Lioness rhyton from Knossos Palace, Crete.

Fabulous example of Minoan stone carving skills during the Bronze Age 3,500 years ago!

📷 by me

#Archaeology

two moth sculptures made from textile and wire

a moth sculpture made from textile and wire

a moth sculpture made from textile and wire

“Mythology and folklore surrounding moths and butterflies carries complex and sometimes contradictory symbolism,” textile artist Larysa Bernhardt says. “I was always attracted to their paradoxical nature.”

www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/07/lary...

The Great Norway Serpent, or Sea Orm, is the most famous of the many influential sea monsters depicted and described by 16th-century ecclesiastic, cartographer, and historian Olaus Magnus, who died #onthisday in 1557. Joseph Nigg explores: publicdomainreview.org/essay/o... #OTD

Wild life of the world: London ;F. Warne and co., 1916. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33270332

Wild life of the world: London ;F. Warne and co., 1916. (source: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33270332) #nature #illustration #art

Part of a medieval manuscript initial letter containing a leopard and a bear, both nursing their cubs; the leopards look like they standing on the mama bear’s head and back.

in-drincan, str.v: to drink, imbibe. (in-DRINK-ahn / ɪn-ˈdrɪnk-an)
Image: De animalibus; France (Paris), mid 14th century; @labnf.bsky.social lat. 16169, f. 115v.
#OldEnglish #WOTD

pdil.art/dogpics - Collections of art featuring Dogs, which are now in the public domain. They're all out of copyright, so you are free to use them in whatever way you'd like.

Inimitable hand | Royal Society During Elizabeth Gould's brief career as an ornithological illustrator, she made a significant contribution to the natural history of birds, as Katherine Marshall discovers.

In her short career as an ornithological illustrator, Elizabeth Gould (1804 - 1841) produced over 650 lithographic plates, a significant contribution to the natural history of birds. Picture Curator Katherine Marshall uncovers her story on our blog: #WomenInSTEM royalsociety.org/blog/2025/07...

a cat and hummingbird sculpture made of worn blue and brown wood

a lion sculpture made of worn yellow wood

Wander into Kirsty Elson’s Cornwall studio, and you’ll likely greet a menagerie of creatures alongside scraps of driftwood and rusted bits of metal.

www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/08/kirs...

Papillons; Paris, Tolmer[ca. 1925] http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48852963

Papillons; Paris, Tolmer[ca. 1925] (source: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48852963) #nature #illustration #art

natural history art, scientific illustration, ornithology: study of the Hawaiʻi ʻakepa (Loxops coccineus), male specimen in side profile on branch in watercolor (red-orange or plumage), second bird (the female?) sketched in black line on ground, left uncolored; signed & dated bottom right

#AvianAugust Hawaiian #Birds Day 2:
Hawaiʻi ʻAkepa (Loxops coccineus)
🚨 IUCN Red List: ENDANGERED
1779 watercolor by William Wade Ellis (British, 1751-85) from the collection of sketches made on Captain James Cook's 3rd voyage (1776-80)
NHM London
sciencephotogallery.com/featured/ake...
#BirdsInArt

Mollusques méditeranéens [!] Gènes: Impr, des sourds-muets, 1851. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104831

Mollusques méditeranéens [!] Gènes: Impr, des sourds-muets, 1851. (source: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104831) #nature #illustration #art

Belt buckle with walking tiger, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Belt buckle with walking tiger, 3rd century BCE
Class: Metalwork
Culture: North China
Medium: Bronze
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/65274

Dish with "Magpie", Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Dish with "Magpie", 15th–16th century
Class: Ceramics
Culture: Vietnam
Medium: Stoneware with cobalt underglaze
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37553

Equestrian figure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Equestrian figure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Equestrian figure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Equestrian figure, 15th–19th century, by Lower Niger Valley caster
Class: Metal-Sculpture
Culture: Lower Niger Bronze Industry
Medium: Coppy alloy
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312536

color book plate in landscape orientation, illustration from a vintage mosaic glass company catalog, design for a “Japanese window” featuring a pair of large brown bats flying in a nocturnal tropical landscape with dark blue sky, swirly clouds, mountain, bamboo, leafy vegetation, red flowering bushes, yellow flowers, brick ground title, designer name, catalog number written in bottom margin

#Baturday 🦇:
“Design for a Japanese Window” by W. H. Day (No. 753), from the Belcher Mosaic Glass Co. Catalogue, New York, USA, 1886.
Winterthur Museum Library archive.org/details/cata...
#Bats

painting in landscape orientation, nine giant white cats with blue eyes and pink noses lined up in a row sitting a surreal nocturnal landscape with multicolored vegetation surrounding a turquoise lake and a white egret (?), dwarfed by the huge cats, looking up at them

#Caturday 🐱:
Jean-Claude Paul (Haitian, 20th c.)
Untitled (Nine White Cats), 1998
Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24
Matthews - Taylor Collection / Haitian Art Society
haitianartsociety.org/jean-claude-...
#CatsInArt

“Six seals appearing on the leaves: Min Zhen 閔貞; Zheng zhai 正齋; Qingqiao 青橋; Zhen 貞; Liao tang 蓼塘; Min Zhen zhi yin 閔貞之印。” “The album was painted for his friend Dailili Shanren in exchange for a scholar’s stone. The paintings demonstrate the artist’s versatility and mature style in the last years of his life. While two leaves are rendered in unconventional compositions seen from above (Cat and Butterfly CMA 1985.71.5) and below (Banana Plant CMA 1985.71.11), they have a humorous touch. “Cat and butterfly” is a homophone for the Chinese characters “mao die,” meaning “octogenarian,” and express the wish for the recipient’s longevity. The banana plant stands for the world of literati but can also allude to Buddhism.” monochrome black & white (seals in red) cat is VERY fat and fluffy, fancy long-haired breed!

#Caturday 🐱:
Min Zhen (China, 1730–after 1788)
#Cat and #Butterfly, 1788
Album leaf, ink on paper; 29 x 18.4 cm
CMA 1985.71.5:
www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.71.5
#ChineseArt
Rebus: “Cat and butterfly” = homophones for “mao die” 耄耋 (octogenarian) = wish for the artist’s friend to have a long life

A work made of ceramic and pigment.

Stirrup Spout Vessel in Form of a Frog, Moche, 100 BCE–500 CE
Place: Peruvian North Coast
Medium: Ceramic and pigment
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/9266

A work made of ceramic and pigment.

Handle Spout Vessel in Form of a Toucan, Moche, 100 BCE–500 CE
Place: Peruvian North Coast
Medium: Ceramic and pigment
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/9286

A work made of ceramic and pigment.

Double-Chambered Handle Spout Vessel with Parrot, Moche, 100 BCE–500 CE
Place: Peruvian North Coast
Medium: Ceramic and pigment
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/9301

v.3 (1863) - The mammals of Australia - Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.

This #ThreatenedThursday spare a thought for the Shark Bay Mouse. This rodent was once present throughout Australia. Its range is now reduced to five islands off the coast of WA.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49705972
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58986822

Historical illustration showing a group of cassowaries from Nouvelle-Hollande (Australia). The main subject is a large, flightless cassowary with a prominent casque on its head, black feathers, and a pale neck. Beside it are two smaller cassowaries, likely juveniles, featuring striped brown and beige plumage. The birds are depicted standing on a patch of earth with sparse vegetation. The image includes French text identifying the species as "Casuarius" and notes details about their size and habitat. The style is typical of early 19th-century natural history prints with detailed, hand-colored engraving.

🦤 Voyage de découvertes aux terres australes: .
Paris: De l'Imprimerie impériale, M. DCCC. VII. [1807]-1816..

[Source]

In the true spirit of the ‘elephant done by a medieval artist that had never seen one’ - 12th century, Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 614, f. 39v

The head of a lion done by a medieval artist that had never seen one from the front - 15th century, Clermont-Ferrand. Bibliothèque du Patrimoine, MS 84, f. 27r

official auction photo 1, side profile on white background carved orange agate figure of a frog/toad with tiny baby on back head is carved with bulging round eyes, raised vertical “brows” and odd wide angular jawline, giving it a quirky cool appearance!

official auction photo 2, front profile on white background carved orange agate figure of a frog/toad with tiny baby on back

official auction photo 3, top down profile on white background carved orange agate figure of a frog/toad with tiny baby on back

#FrogFriday 🐸:
Agate Toad (with baby on back!)
China, Qing Dynasty, 19th c.
L 3 1⁄8 in. (8 cm)
onlineonly.christies.com/s/pavilion-o...
#ChineseArt
(Fans of “little guys” in art history should dig this quirky cute figure, I know I was delighted to stumble across it! 🥰)

Color book plate, natural history art, scientific illustration, ornithology: Plate 5, adult male, adult female, young juvenile specimens clinging to flowering branch

Color book plate, natural history art, scientific illustration, ornithology: Plate 6, 3 juvenile specimens in different plumage phases clinging to flowering branch

#AvianAugust Hawaiian #Birds Day 1: ʻIʻiwi, aka Scarlet Honeycreeper (Drepanis coccinea)
🚨IUCN Red List: VULNERABLE
Plates 5 & 6 from Aves Hawaiienses : the birds of the Sandwich Islands (London, 1890–9), adult male & female and juvenile plumages
#BirdsInArt
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41338478

Ooo neat I’m doing this :)
#AvianAugust #BirdsInArt