Mermaid
Date
1759
Creator
Benjamin Cole (1718 - 1783, British) , Engraver
Object type
Library reference
R62588
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 215mm
width (print): 130mm
width (print): 130mm
Subject
Description
Study of the imaginary marine creature, a siren, or mermaid, half human, half fish. Shown apparently holding a shell, and presented with a scale bar, to the right.
The accompanying article states that: ‘The Syren, or Mermaid, is said to have been shewn in the fair of St. Germains last year, where this drawing was made by the celebrated Sieur Gautier. He says it was about two feet long, alive, and very active, sporting about in a vessel of water in which it was kept with great seeming delight and agility. It was fed with bread and small fishes…It was a female, and the features were hideously ugly. The skin was harsh, the ears very large, and the back-parts and tail were covered in scales. Two other animals of the same kind are said to have been shewn about four years ago, but they were dead and dried.’
Plate with an accompanying brief note: ‘Description of the Syren Plate’, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and historical chronicle…[edited] by Sylvanus Urban, v.29, (1759), p.590.
Inscribed above: ‘The Syren Drawn from the Life.’ Inscribed below; ‘B. Cole Sculp.’
The accompanying article states that: ‘The Syren, or Mermaid, is said to have been shewn in the fair of St. Germains last year, where this drawing was made by the celebrated Sieur Gautier. He says it was about two feet long, alive, and very active, sporting about in a vessel of water in which it was kept with great seeming delight and agility. It was fed with bread and small fishes…It was a female, and the features were hideously ugly. The skin was harsh, the ears very large, and the back-parts and tail were covered in scales. Two other animals of the same kind are said to have been shewn about four years ago, but they were dead and dried.’
Plate with an accompanying brief note: ‘Description of the Syren Plate’, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and historical chronicle…[edited] by Sylvanus Urban, v.29, (1759), p.590.
Inscribed above: ‘The Syren Drawn from the Life.’ Inscribed below; ‘B. Cole Sculp.’
Associated place