The feet of these two examples of Swallow pigeons - a black and a blue - are almost completely hidden by their luxuriant feathers. The birds were painted by British artist Joseph W Ludlow (1840-1916) for the rare 'Illustrated Book of Pigeons with Standards for Judging' (also known as 'Cassell's Pigeon Book'), written by Robert Fulton and first published in 1876 with 50 chromolithograph illustrations.
Two varieties of Swallow pigeon, distinguished by luxuriant feathers almost hiding their feet, painted in the late 19th century by British artist Joseph Williamson Ludlow for a rare volume, 'The Illustrated Book of Pigeons with Standards for Judging', first published in 1876. This detail of the chromolithograph reproduced from the painting shows two Swallow colour variants in a natural setting: a black swallow and a blue. The complete artwork was one of 50 painted by Ludlow for the book, which was published by Cassell, Petter and Galpin and is alternatively known as 'Cassell's Pigeon Book'. It was written by Robert Fulton and edited by Lewis Wright. Like all selectively bred fancy or ornamental pigeons, the Swallow breed ultimately derives from the rock pigeon or dove (Columba livia). Swallows have mainly white plumage, with shell crests rising from the back of their necks and heads. The Saxon Fairy Swallow, originally bred in Germany, is among the most popular of the varieties bred for showing. Joseph W Ludlow (1840-1916) specialised in ornithological art, particularly in portraying domestic birds. He illustrated several other books on poultry and pigeons in the natural history series produced by Cassell. The Illustrated Book of Pigeons, which ran to nearly 400 pages, provided pigeon fanciers with a comprehensive guide to breeding and raising fancy and ornamental birds. It sold well over several editions and is still regarded as a useful reference work. However, complete examples in good condition with all of the pages and colour plates intact are now very rare.
Size: 7867px × 5245px
Location: 'The Illustrated Book of Pigeons' by Robert Fulton, illustrated by Joseph Williamson Ludlow (1876)
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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