Bronze Mannikin And Two-Coloured Mannikin

26.5 x 17 cm (10.5 x 6.75 inches).

Spermestes cucullata and Spermestes bicolor/p>

This is a beautiful antique lithograph from a work by Arthur G.Butler (1844-1925), an entomologist at the British Museum who worked on the taxonomy of birds, insects and spiders. He employed one of the finest illustrators of birds of all time, Frederick William Frohawk, to illustrate the birds in this set of prints. Frohawk was expert at showing the birds in a life like manner, with beautiful background scenery. This comes from a set of prints made by chromolithography in the 1890s. It is an original antique and is in excellent condition.