The pencil and watercolour sketch of Malurus callainus (Splendid Fairy Wren) is by Henry Constantine Richter. Richter was employed by the distinguished British ornithologist John Gould.

Gould usually drew rough sketches of birds from skins collected. These sketches were then redrawn for publication by other artists, including his wife Elizabeth, and Henry Ritcher.

This image was published in the Gould's 1869 Supplement to The birds of Australia. When published, the image appeared in reverse to the sketch after being redrawn onto the lithographic stone, printed and hand-coloured.

Usually Gould represented both the male and female bird, however in this image both of the birds are the highly-coloured male.

During his career, Richter produced more than 1,500 hand-coloured lithographs. The majority of his work was undertaken for John Gould's natural history volumes.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

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