Exquisite c. 1840s German Zoological Watercolor: Unusual Variety of Snake-like Creatures! old tin cooking dish I love the combination of

I love the combination of drinking poem on one side paired with image of mother bird feeding her young on the opposite

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

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

Photos document first one

not identified as Fornasetti by the dealer

Exquisite c. 1840s German Zoological Watercolor: Unusual Variety of Snake-like Creatures! old tin cooking dish I love the combination ofThis 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