Rare Bird

This wonderful watercolor is a dramatic portrait of a bird of prey known as the common buzzard, but there is nothing common about this avian artwork.  It is a watercolor by British naturalist William Lewin (1747–1795) and is an illustration from his The Birds of Great Britain, with Their Eggs, Accurately Figured.  

Lewin began to issue the book in 1789, the result of twenty years of work and research.  Limited to a subscription of 60, each volume of the first edition contained 323 watercolors of birds and their eggs.  Lewin, a meticulous and skilled artist, painted each illustration for the entire first edition, a total of 19,380 individual paintings.  

Therefore this magnificent bird is one of original flock of 60.  One wonders how many survived over the past 230 years.

The book was so popular, Lewin, assisted by his three sons, began work on a second edition, this time using hand-colored etchings inscribed by Lewin.  This allowed a larger printing of 150 copies, which were issued in eight volumes from 1793 to 1801.  Lewin died in 1795, having engraved the plates for volumes one to three and his sons completed the illustrations for the remaining volumes. 

Sadly,  because of the beauty of its watercolors, the first editions were broken up by collectors and dealers for the individual illustrations, many of which have been lost or destroyed over time.  The second edition also suffered similar poaching of its beautiful bird illustrations and less than 30 complete examples are known to exist.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

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Birds of a Feather. . .

. . flock together, except in this case these beautiful birds have feathers of glowing glass or crystal.  The first of this fascinating flock are from France, made by the Sabino Crystal Company.  The company was founded by Marius Sabino, who was born in Italy in 1878, but came to France as a child.  He studied at the L'Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs and the Beaux Arts de Paris, and following WWI, founded a factory manufacturing light fixtures.  It was there that Sabino developed his signature opalescent glass with blue and golden tones, depending on the light.  He expanded his production to include art deco-inspired figurines and sculptures.  Sabino died in 1961, but the company continues to produce opaline glass using his designs.  

Some of these charming chickadees carry their original Sabino labels, as well as the company's engraved signature.

Also flying in from France are these frosted delicate doves by Lalique.

This magnificent Murano glass seagull swooping over the curling crest of a wave immigrated from Italy.  Of glimmering glass, this hand-blown bird carries the Murano label and is signed and dated by the artist.

This stylized bird of brilliant blue glass was designed by artist Oiva Toikka and hand made by the Finnish glassware company iittala.  It is the epitome of the simple and clean lines of Finnish design.

Come by Next-to-New to visit these birds before they fly off our shelves to their new homes!