Nicholson, W. “Kerry Breed.”

W. Nicholson after Mr. Shiels.  “Kerry Breed.” Pl. 6. From David Low's, The Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Islands. 

London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, 1840.  Folio.  7 ¾ x 11 ¼. Lithograph by Fairland.  Original hand color.  Full margins.

One image from a series of bold and charming portraits of award winning British domestic animals.  The finely turned out horses, sheep, cows and hogs are posing in splendid profile against a cheerful English landscape.  Each breed is carefully drawn, looking thoroughly contented and proud, with shiny coasts, snouts, fetlocks, horns and other distinctive body parts shown to advantage.  The drawing on stone were made from original paintings, executed for the Museum of the University of Edinburgh.  They appear here with captions naming the breeds and crediting their owners.  These jovial prints are a fine tribute to the sophistication of nineteenth-century animal husbandry in Britain.  They are also, for their subjects, scale, and skillful drawing and coloring, some of the more endearing and distinctive animal prints ever done.