Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.10021
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‘The Maimon’ [Mandrill]
Date
1790
Creator
James Sowerby (1757 - 1822, British) , Painter
Object type
Library reference
Tracts/X51/10
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 266mm
width (print): 212mm
width (print): 212mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Zoological study of the Mandrill Mandrillus sphinx, native to Africa. The primate is shown seated, in woodland. with a wooded landscape, its left paw resting on its head.
Plate 2 from the book Speculum Linnaeanum: or Linnean zoology; containing a complete illustration of the zoological part of the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus...by George Shaw, the figures by James Sowerby (London, 1790). The creature is described in the text: “This colour of this animal is an olive-brown...paler, or more inclining to white beneath. The appearance of the face is very remarkable; the nose on each side being of a deep violet-blue, and furnished with a small sharp-pointed beard of a pale yellow or orange-colour. The feet are armed with claws, without having any flattened or nail-like appearance. This animal, like most of the tribe, is found in several parts of Africa. Its height is about three feet.”
Plate 2 from the book Speculum Linnaeanum: or Linnean zoology; containing a complete illustration of the zoological part of the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus...by George Shaw, the figures by James Sowerby (London, 1790). The creature is described in the text: “This colour of this animal is an olive-brown...paler, or more inclining to white beneath. The appearance of the face is very remarkable; the nose on each side being of a deep violet-blue, and furnished with a small sharp-pointed beard of a pale yellow or orange-colour. The feet are armed with claws, without having any flattened or nail-like appearance. This animal, like most of the tribe, is found in several parts of Africa. Its height is about three feet.”
Associated place