Fossil rhinoceros skull
Date
1821
Creator
William Clift (1775 - 1849, British) , Illustrator
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 227mm
width (painting): 326mm
width (painting): 326mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Plate 3 from the paper "On a new species of Rhinoceros found in the interior of Africa, the skull of which bears a close resemblance to that found in a fossil state in Siberia and other countries", by Everard Home, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol.112 (1822), pp.38-45. According to Home's text, this painting was made from a cast of the fossil specimen, sent by the Tsar of Russia to Sir Joseph Banks and deposited in the British Museum. However the plate note attributes it to a skull in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. The work is inscribed with publication and plate details and lower left "Scale 3 Inches to a Foot". Signed lower left "W.H. Clift del." Royal Society stamp verso.
Object history
An illustration produced for publication in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Associated place
Credit
© The Royal Society
Image number
RS.8710