Northern Pintail — engraving

"The Northern Pintail".

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 Northern Pintail (Latin: Anas acuta, L.) is a species of dabbling duck named for the long, pointed tail feathers that are especially prominent in males. The Latin name Anas acuta 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 acuta means "sharp," directly referring to the characteristic shape of the tail.

The Northern Pintail is one of the most elegant and widely distributed duck species in the world. The male has a very distinctive appearance: a chocolate-brown head, a bright white stripe running up the side of the neck, a silvery-gray body, and a long, pointed tail. The female is mottled in brownish-buff tones but can also be distinguished by her slender silhouette with a long neck and pointed tail.

The species breeds in Northern Europe, Asia, and North America . It winters much farther south — in Africa, Southern Asia, and Central America. In Russia, the Northern Pintail is very widespread — from the western borders to Kamchatka, inhabiting various inland water bodies . It is one of the most important game species. It feeds mainly on plant matter, foraging in shallow water in the characteristic manner of dabbling ducks — by tipping up.

The scale 1/3 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 one-third (1:3) 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 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 multi-colored chromolithographs.