Shaw & Nodder — Set of Six Fish Engravings c.1790 (Matched Bundle)
Shaw & Nodder — Set of Six Fish Engravings c.1790 (Matched Bundle)
A matched set of six original hand-colored Shaw & Nodder fish engravings from The Naturalist's Miscellany — a coordinated collection for ichthyology or nautical-themed display. These plates are published within a few years of each other from the same 24-volume publication, guaranteeing matched paper stock, margins, and printing quality essential for anyone planning a coordinated gallery wall or frame grouping.
Why Buy as a Set
Interior designers and collectors of natural history prize matched fish sets for dining rooms, coastal cottages, and nautical studies. A row of six coordinated 18th-century fish plates — above a sideboard, running along a hallway, or bracketed in a 2×3 grid — creates an exceptional visual statement. Individual plates are also available; purchasing the set offers savings and guarantees matched tonal range.
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
Each 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
Shipping costs vary by product, packaging requirements, destination, carrier, and insurance value. We do not use flat-rate shipping because antique prints, maps, paintings, and books each require different packing — some ship flat between archival boards, some ship rolled, some require custom-built crates with shock absorption, and framed pieces need extra protection for glass and corners.
How our shipping process works:
- You place your order (shipping is calculated as $0 at checkout)
- We prepare a custom shipping quote for your destination — typically within 24 hours
- We contact you to confirm carrier options (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL), insurance value, and delivery timeline
- Once you approve the shipping quote, we send a separate invoice for shipping
- We pack with archival-grade materials and insure at full value
Questions on shipping before you buy? Contact us with your zip code (or international address) and we'll provide a quote before you commit to purchase.
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.
It is the buyer's responsibility to confirm that the piece is in the condition they require before purchase. We are always happy to answer any questions about the state of the work, provide additional photographs of specific areas, describe any flaws or repairs in detail, or arrange a video review before you buy. Please contact us at any time with questions — we believe an informed buyer is the best customer.
All pieces are guaranteed authentic originals (not reproductions, facsimiles, or modern prints). We offer a full refund if authenticity is ever disputed by a qualified third party.