Lot #48: Audubon Limited Edition Grouse and Alexander Wilson Grouse

For the bird lover, this duo of grouse lithographs brings highly detailed, full color prints in dark green mattes and matching oak frames. The Ruffled Grouse is a Limited Edition, No. A 333, from John James Audubon's Birds of America, published by the American Craft Print Guild. These prints were produced in the first half of the 1900s, and are hand-numbered. The Pinnated Grouse is by Alexander Wilson, 1766-1813, and also shows a blue-green warbler and a Nashville wren. Engraved from the original by A. Lawson. Wilson, a Scottish immigrant to America, was a predecessor of Audubon's and the first to attempt a comprehensive visual survey of America's birds. He produced 76 illustrations for his "American Ornithology," and along the way discovered 39 previously unknown species. This hand-colored lithograph shows the plate impress along edges. Engraver Alexander Lawson was one of Wilson's early boosters, and eventually, his engraver. Wilson began handing a few engraved plates to Lawson to be colored and reproduced, then added pen and ink and watercolor originals to his repertoire, sometimes in collaboration with Lawson. Audubon, 1785-1851, based a few of his later illustrations on Wilson's originals but expanded greatly on that work. See lot 64 for more info on Audubon. Both pieces are in very good condition. Dimensions: 29.25"W X 25"H, 23"W X 27"H Pickup category timeslot {B}