Urocissa cucullata

Art Historical Context

This hand-colored lithograph, titled *Urocissa cucullata*, captures the striking form of a hooded magpie with remarkable precision and vibrancy. Created by the renowned British ornithologist and illustrator John Gould in collaboration H.C. Richter, the work dates to the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Gould’s extensive series of bird studies helped bring exotic species to European audiences during an era of expanding global exploration and scientific discovery. The medium of hand-colored lithography was ideally suited to natural history publications of the period. Lithography allowed for fine...

About the Artist

John Gould and H.C. Richter

John Gould (1804–1881) and Henry Constantine Richter (1821–1902) formed one of the most productive and celebrated partnerships in the history of natural history illustration. Gould, an English ornithologist and publisher of extraordinary ambition, built a career on the production of lavishly illustrated folio volumes documenting the birds of Britain, Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas. Thou...