Bird Courtship Plumage I – Antique Chromolithograph, Meyers 5th Edition c.1895

Original 16 × 24 cm antique bird chromolithograph from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, showing colourful courtship plumage and breeding displays in ten bird groups.

📏 Dimensions: 16 × 24 cm

How extraordinary can birds become when courtship transforms their plumage and display?

Original antique chromolithograph titled “Hochzeitskleider I.” from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 5th edition, circa 1895. This richly coloured ornithological plate illustrates courtship plumage and display in a remarkable selection of birds, comparing male and female or breeding and non-breeding appearances where applicable.

The figures include the horned bellbird, red-spotted bluethroat, pin-tailed whydah, Eurasian teal, ruff, painted snipe, displaying prairie chicken, crested auklet, great crested grebe and Temminck’s tragopan with inflated throat lappet and erected horns.

A highly decorative late nineteenth-century natural-history plate, combining scientific ornithology with vivid chromolithographic colour and particularly interesting examples of sexual dimorphism and courtship display.

The sheet appears in very good overall visible condition, with light age toning and minor edge/handling wear. Colours remain strong and the printed details and captions are clearly legible.

Original antique print, not a modern reproduction.

Passepartout and frame are NOT included in the sale.