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Recto: A Toucan Verso: A Vulture Anonymous (German)
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Curator’s description:
Description
A plate from an unidentified book about birds, described by Ruskin in the catalogue of the Educational Series as being from Nuremberg and, from its appearance, dating from the late sixteenth or seventeenth century. The three prints in Educational Series no. 170, and the two in Rudimentary Series no. 45, are all taken from the book; this particular illustration is on p. 726 (not 729 as stated by Hewison); the other side of the sheet (p. 725) shows an Indian vulture.
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Details
- Artist/maker
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Anonymous (German) (Anonymous, German) (block cutter)
- Object type
- Material and technique
- woodcut and letterpress on laid paper
- Dimensions
- recto 88 x 143 mm, verso 102 x 132 mm (blocks); 378 x 241 mm (sheet), 214 x 241 mm as originally folded in mount
- Inscription
- Both sides covered with extensive letterpress, notably a running header 'De Auibus' with the page number '726' (recto) and 'Appendix', '725' (verso). The toucan is labelled, above the paragraph of text which described it, 'TOVCAN SEV PICA BRESSILICA'; The vulture, above the image, 'PA, AVIS INDICA.'
Verso, bottom, right of centre, the Ruskin School's stamp
- Provenance
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Presented by John Ruskin to the Ruskin Drawing School (University of Oxford), 1875; transferred from the Ruskin Drawing School to the Ashmolean Museum, c.1949.
- No. of items
- 1
- Accession no.
- WA.RS.RUD.045.b
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Subject terms allocated by curators:
Subjects
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References in which this object is cited include:
References
Ruskin, John, The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogue of the Rudimentary Series, in the Arrangement of 1873, ed. Robert Hewison (London: Lion and Unicorn Press, 1984), cat. Rudimentary no. 45, RUD.045.b
Ruskin, John, Instructions in Practice of Elementary Drawing, Arranged with Reference to the First Series of Examples in the Drawings Schools of the University of Oxford (n.p., [1872]), cat. Rudimentary no. 45
Ruskin, John, Instructions in the Preliminary Exercises Arranged for the Lower Drawing-School (London: Smith, Elder, 1872), cat. Rudimentary no. 45
Ruskin, John, Instructions in the Preliminary Exercise Arranged For the Lower Drawing-School (London: Spottiswoode, 1873), cat. Rudimentary no. 45
Ruskin, John, ‘Rudimentary Series 1878’, 1878, Oxford, Oxford University Archives, cat. Rudimentary no. 45
Ruskin, John, ‘The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogues, Notes and Instructions’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 21, cat. Rudimentary no. 45
Location
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- Western Art Print Room
Position in Ruskin’s Collection
Ruskin's Catalogues
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Ruskin's Rudimentary series, 3rd ed. (1872)
R|45} Owl and Toucan (old woodcut). -
Ruskin's Rudimentary series, 5th ed. (1873)
R|45} Owl and Toucan (old woodcut). -
Ruskin's revision to the Rudimentary series (1878)
45.Pen exercise. The lower figure is very admirable as a type of simple woodcutting; and for any student of power and determination the leaving the lines of light in the dark masses, and the real precision and delicacy in the apparently coarse dark lines of the bill, will be extremely instructive exercise.
