Gadwall — engraving

"The Gadwall".

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 Gadwall (Latin: Anas strepera, L.) is a species of dabbling duck widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The Latin name Anas strepera was given to the bird by the great Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) in 1758 in the 10th edition of his famous "Systema Naturae," the starting point of modern zoological nomenclature . The specific name strepera derives from Late Latin streperus — "noisy," referring to the vocal nature of these ducks.

In modern classification, the species is sometimes placed in the genus Mareca. It is a medium-sized duck (47–58 cm in length). The breeding male has elegant grey plumage, a black rear end, and a distinctive white speculum on the wing, conspicuous in flight. The female is mottled brown, closely resembling a female mallard but smaller with a white belly .

The Gadwall inhabits freshwater wetlands with standing water and dense vegetation. It feeds primarily on plant matter, dabbling in shallow water. In Russia, it occurs in forest-steppe and steppe zones from the western borders to Primorye. The species is a game bird, though less popular than the mallard.
The scale 2/5 is indicated on the sheet. 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 two-fifths (2:5) of its natural size.

The Artist
The drawing for this chromolithograph was created by the eminent British animal painter Archibald Thorburn (1860–1935) , recognized as a classic master of ornithological illustration. The son of a miniature painter to Queen Victoria, Thorburn developed his unique style combining scientific accuracy with artistic expressiveness and meticulously rendered natural backgrounds. He gained worldwide fame for his 268 watercolors for Lord Lilford's monumental work "Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands" (1885–1898), as well as illustrations for game and hunting books.

The Publisher
This lithograph was printed by the printing house of the I. N. Kushnerev and Co. Partnership in Moscow. The enterprise was founded in 1869 by Ivan Nikolayevich Kushnerev as "I. N. Kushnerev's Quick Printing House," and became a joint-stock partnership in 1888. The Partnership's status as "Highest Approved" meant its charter had been personally approved by the Emperor — a mark of exceptional trust and supreme quality. The printing house was renowned for its first-class execution of books, scientific works, and reproductions of paintings. After the 1917 revolution, the enterprise was nationalized, and in 1922 it was renamed "Krasny Proletary" (Red Proletariat).