Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case EO, Shelf 29

Engraving

1580-1620 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Henri Le Roy (1579-1652), a French engraver, produced a number of designs inspired by the natural world, incorporating birds, insects and plants into his work. Such is the case in this series of seven frieze designs, which could have been put to use as designs for architectural ornaments, textiles or other objects. Each panel shows a different selection of birds from various angles and engaging in a range of activities, including hunting, preening, eating and flying. The friezes did not present an actual space, as some of the birds are seen standing on floating islands of land or floating upside down. Rather, the images were probably intended to be somewhat informative, as well as playful and decorative. Throughout the series, some of the birds, such as the owl and heron, are presented in a number of different positions, supporting the idea that the images offered loose studies of the animals.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
engraving
Brief description
Henry Le Roy. Plate comprising two friezes of birds and insects. Plate from a suite of copies in reverse after designs by Hans Liefrinck published by Hans Collaert I. Paris, 1580-1620.
Physical description
Two friezes; above, a fly a moth and ten birds, including one bird of prey holding another bird in one of its talons, and anoter, possibly a heron, with a worm in its beak; below eleven birds.
Dimensions
  • To plate mark height: 9.4cm
  • To plate mark width: 18.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
"Henry le Roy excü. 2" (upper right)
Object history
A similar series of frieze designs with birds, designed by Hans Collaert around 1530-1580, provided inspiration for Le Roy’s series. One example of the Collaert series can be found in the British Museum (1972, U.48.1), and more may be found in the Rijksmuseum (e.g. RP-P-1891-A-16575). A similar series made by Virgil Solis (1514-1562), a German printmaker, may have provided Le Roy with further inspiration (de Jong). Several examples of the Solis bird friezes are also in the British Museum (e.g. 1870, 0625.188). (F. Allitt)
Subjects depicted
Summary
Henri Le Roy (1579-1652), a French engraver, produced a number of designs inspired by the natural world, incorporating birds, insects and plants into his work. Such is the case in this series of seven frieze designs, which could have been put to use as designs for architectural ornaments, textiles or other objects. Each panel shows a different selection of birds from various angles and engaging in a range of activities, including hunting, preening, eating and flying. The friezes did not present an actual space, as some of the birds are seen standing on floating islands of land or floating upside down. Rather, the images were probably intended to be somewhat informative, as well as playful and decorative. Throughout the series, some of the birds, such as the owl and heron, are presented in a number of different positions, supporting the idea that the images offered loose studies of the animals.
Bibliographic references
  • Hollstein, F.W.H., Ann Diels, Marjolein Leesberg, Arnout Balis, and Collaert. The new Hollstein Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, 1450-1700 The Collaert Dynasty / comp. by Ann Diels and Marjolein Leesberg; ed. by Marjolein Leesberg and Arnout Balis. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. Ouderkerk aan den IJssel: Sound & Vision Publishers, 2005, nos. 1599-1611.
  • Jong, Marijnke de, and Irene M. de Groot. Ornamentprenten in het Rijksprentenkabinet I, 15de & 16de eeuw / Marijnke de Jong, Irene de Groot. Ornamentprenten in Het Rijksprentenkabinet. Amsterdam: Rijksprentenkabinet : Rijksmuseum,1988, nos.69 and 70.
  • (Berlin II) Berlin Staatlich Museen., Katalog der Ornamentstich-Sammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek Berlin, Berlin and Leipzig, 1936-39, 4380.
Collection
Accession number
E.858-1925

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
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