Keulemans Pygmy hanging parrot, Loriculus Exilis, Schleg. Lithograph c1878.

by Keulemans, John Gerrard

Keulemans antique print of tiny parrot, Loriculus exilis - known as Pygmy hanging parrot, Red-billed hanging parrot and Green hanging parrot. Rarely seen due to Sulawesi wooded habitat loss.

Original hand-coloured lithograph by eminent bird illustrator and naturalist John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912) for Ornithological Miscellany by George Dawson Rowley (1822-1878). George Rowley's Ornithological Miscellany, published between 1876 and 1878, included bird species from many countries, bird farming and hunting, new birds and ancient fossils - and included 127 hand-coloured lithographs, mostly by Keulemans.

Keulemans was considered the finest bird lithographer of his time, renowned for his artistic skill and scientifically accurate, hand-coloured lithographs. In 1869 fellow ornithologist and colleague of John Gould, Richard Bowdler-Sharp persuaded Keulemans to move from Brussels to London, which at that time was the most important centre for grand publications illustrating birds.

Size of page is 31 x 24cm (12 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches).