Shaw & Nodder — Fish Engraving, Plate 6 c.1790
Shaw & Nodder — Fish Engraving, Plate 6 c.1790
An original hand-colored copper engraving from The Naturalist's Miscellany depicting a fish species — please see our product image for specific identification. The plate is on watermarked paper, issued monthly as part of the 24-volume work between 1789 and 1813 by Nodder & Co. of London. Plates are hand-colored with a combination of watercolor and layered gouache, producing the brilliant colors that distinguish The Naturalist's Miscellany from lesser natural history publications of the period.
Part of a set of 6: Available individually or as part of a matched Set of 6 Fish Engravings — see our bundle listing for coordinated display.
About George Shaw (1751–1813) & Frederick Polydore Nodder (fl. 1770–1800)
George Shaw, MD, FRS, was a physician, botany lecturer at Oxford, founding member of the Linnean Society of London, and Keeper of the Natural History Section of the British Museum. He was among the first scientists to describe the platypus to European science. Frederick Polydore Nodder was "Botanic Painter to Her Majesty" Queen Charlotte, and contributed illustrations to Joseph Banks's Florilegium. After Frederick's death in 1800, his son Richard Polydore Nodder and widow Elizabeth continued the publishing business.
About the Work
The Naturalist's Miscellany: or Coloured Figures of Natural Objects was published monthly from August 1789 to July 1813 by Nodder & Co., London. Running to 24 volumes and 1,063+ hand-colored copperplate engravings with text in both Latin and English, it documents a huge variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, fish, crustaceans, and marine life — many discovered and documented by late 17th and 18th-century naturalists and explorers in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Seas. Plates are hand-colored with a combination of watercolor and layered gouache, producing particularly brilliant colors.
Scarcity & Market Context
Complete 24-volume sets in fine condition are rare and command $15,000–$30,000+ at auction when they appear. Individual hand-colored fish plates appear at specialist dealers in the $125–$275 range. Groups of 6+ matched plates are scarce; well-preserved examples with clean margins and original color are increasingly difficult to source.
Institutional Holdings
Complete copies at the British Museum (Natural History), the Smithsonian, the Linnean Society of London, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and other major natural-history institutions.
Dimensions
Sheet approximately 5.75 × 10 inches
Frame: This piece ships unframed — the sheet or plate only. We can recommend framers in your area or ship to your preferred framer. Professional framing with archival materials typically runs $150–$400 depending on size and finish.
Shipping Terms
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Important Buyer Notice
These pieces are antique originals, ranging from approximately 100 to over 400 years old. Each piece will show varying degrees of age-appropriate condition: paper toning, foxing, edge wear, fold marks, minor restoration, light staining, and other natural signs of age are common and expected for works of this period. Condition varies from piece to piece.
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