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Among the most well-known of all 19th
century thylacine artworks is this beautiful 1863 painting by Henry
Constantine Richter of a thylacine pair. The original is housed
in the Natural History Museum, London. Richter was one of the main
illustrators employed by the distinguished British naturalist John
Gould. Gould's lifetime work comprised more than forty
volumes and 3,000 coloured plates. His lavishly illustrated volumes
on birds have been called the gems of mid-19th century ornithology.
This work, titled "Thylacinus cynocephalus",
was presented as plate 54 in Gould's "The Mammals of Australia - Vol.
1", 1863. Of it, Gould writes: "The circumstances of a fine
pair, male and female...being now living in the Gardens of the Zoological
Society in the Regent's Park (London), enables me to give the best figure
of the animal that has yet appeared...". View
detail. |
