Exquisite c. 1840s German Zoological Watercolor: Unusual Variety of Snake-like Creatures! old tin cooking dish and the best little legs

and the best little legs

Photos document first one

12 1/16" l x 2 9/16" w x 2 1/4" t and in very good condition

I love the red and yellow cat with yarn at one corner and spool of thread at the other

I purchased the piece from the estate of a dancer/choreographer in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood

Exquisite c. 1840s German Zoological Watercolor: Unusual Variety of Snake-like Creatures! old tin cooking dish and the best little legsThis is not a hand colored engraving, it is an original, beautifully executed ink and watercolor drawingone of several I purchased from a seller in Germany, and which appear all done by the same person, c. 1840s I believe. Whether made in advance of, or after, an engraving for a zoological volume I am not certain (though I'd guess the former) whatever the case, quite spectacular, and with the fantastic execution amplifying a sense of wonder at