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C1802
Hornbill.
Artist:
Rare, early c.19th hand coloured engraving of the first illustration of the Channel-billed Cuckoo appeared in Governor Phillip’s account of the colony in 1789. The Channel-billed Cuckoo is the worlds largest cuckoo and was often incorrectly described as a Hornbill … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Hornbill.
Date:
C1802
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving with original hand colouring
Image Size:
90mm
x 160mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1802
Description:
Rare, early c.19th hand coloured engraving of the first illustration of the Channel-billed Cuckoo appeared in Governor Phillip’s account of the colony in 1789.
The Channel-billed Cuckoo is the worlds largest cuckoo and was often incorrectly described as a Hornbill due it’s large beak.
Other common names: Channel-billed Cuckoo, Storm Bird, Fig Hawk, Flood Bird.
Modern binomial name: Scythrops novaehollandiae
First described: Latham, 1790
Distribution: WA, NT, QLD, NSW
From Barrington’s, The History of New South Wales…
References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 345
Abbey, J.R. Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860. London 1972: 565
Collections: National Library Australia: Bib ID: 531817
State Library New South Wales: Record Identifier 74Vv7J3Nx6BA
State Library Victoria: RARELT 994.402 B27H
State Library South Australia: 994.402 B276
Vincent Woodthorpe (1764 - 1822)
English engraver, artist and copperplate printer whose work is chiefly remembered for its role in shaping early European visual impressions of Australia. He was born in Stepney, London, around 1764, the son of a victualler. In 1778 he was apprenticed to a tinplate worker, a trade that likely gave him the technical grounding later useful in engraving and printing. By the 1790s Woodthorpe was established in London as a professional engraver and printer, working mainly from premises in Fetter Lane. He produced maps, views and decorative prints, often hand-coloured, and was active as both engraver and publisher. His most significant work dates from the early years of the nineteenth century, when he engraved a series of plates illustrating New South Wales for publications associated with Georges Barrington. These images included views of Sydney and its surroundings, depictions of Aboriginal people, native animals and colonial life.
Woodthorpe never visited Australia, and his engravings were based on sketches and descriptions supplied by others. As a result, many of his scenes are imaginative or exaggerated rather than strictly accurate. Despite this, they were among the earliest widely circulated images of the Australian colony and played an important role in shaping how Britain and Europe imagined the new settlement.
Vincent Woodthorpe died in London on 22 September 1822.
