Bean Goose — engraving

"Bean Goose".

Technique, Material: Chromolithograph / Paper
Artist: Archibald Thorburn,  Engraver: 
Date, Publisher: Lith. Highest Approved Partnership of I. N. Kushnerev and Co., Moscow.
Size: 25,5x16 cm.

The Bean Goose (Latin: Anser segetum, J. F. Gmel.) is a large waterfowl species of the duck family, closely related to the Greylag Goose but distinguished by its darker coloration and characteristic bicolored bill (black with an orange band). The Latin name Anser segetum (literally "goose of the grain fields," from segetum — sown field, cornfield) was proposed by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (1748–1804) . Gmelin, a professor of medicine at Göttingen, was a student of Carl Linnaeus and completed the 13th edition of his famous "Systema Naturae," describing numerous new species.

In modern scientific classification, the Bean Goose is known as Anser fabalis, but the specific epithet segetum (sometimes as a subspecific name) continues to be used in the taxonomy of this polymorphic species. The Bean Goose breeds in the tundra and taiga of Eurasia — from Scandinavia to Kamchatka — and winters in Western and Southern Europe, Transcaucasia, China, and Japan. It is an important game species. The English name "Bean Goose" refers to its habit of feeding in bean fields and stubble during winter.

In the sheet, the scale 1/5 is indicated. Unlike the 19th-century practice of numbering plates or issues within a publication, in this series of ornithological chromolithographs, this fraction denotes the ratio of the depicted size to the bird's actual size. This means the bird in the illustration is shown at a scale of one-fifth (1:5) of its natural size. 

The Artist
The drawing for this chromolithograph was created by the eminent British animal painter Archibald Thorburn (1860–1935). Of Scottish origin, Thorburn was regarded as the finest ornithological painter of his generation. His work is distinguished by exceptional accuracy in depicting birds, a deep understanding of their anatomy and habits, and a masterful rendering of their natural surroundings. He gained greatest fame for his 268 illustrations for Lord Lilford's monumental work "Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands" (1885–1898). Thorburn combined scientific precision with high artistic taste, making his work sought after for both scientific and artistic publications throughout Europe, including Russia.

The Publisher
This lithograph was printed by the printing house of the I. N. Kushnerev and Co. Partnership in Moscow. This enterprise, founded in 1869 by Ivan Nikolayevich Kushnerev, had become one of the largest and most respected printing firms in the Russian Empire by the end of the 19th century. The Partnership's status as "Highest Approved" meant its charter had been personally approved by the Emperor, serving as a mark of exceptional trust and supreme quality. The Kushnerev printing house was renowned for its first-class execution of illustrated publications, including multi-colored chromolithographs. After the 1917 revolution, the enterprise was nationalized and transformed into the famous "Krasny Proletary" printing house.