Engraving
1580-1620 (published)
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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 made with two separate plates; above, fifteen birds, below, eleven birds. |
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| 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 |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.861-1925 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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