Vintage Paul Pfurtscheller Zoological School Wall Chart, Honey Bee 1929 Large!

Description

Large-scale vintage wall chart of the anatomy of the "Apis mellifica", (honey bee) and its larvae. Lithograph on two sheets of paper, mounted on canvas (with original wooden rods at top and bottom). Vibrant colours, some creasing and stiffness, but overall good condition considering its age and use.  Dimensions:  Height: 55.12 in. (140 cm), Width: 51.19 in. (130 cm), Depth: 0.08 in. (2 mm) Place of Origin:   Austria Materials and Techniques: Canvas, Paper ·       Date of Manufacture: 1929 ·        Condition:  Good, wear consistent with age and use.  Some creasing and stiffness.  Canvas has tape on back in a few locations to protect paper.  Photos of actual item.  Further details:  Author and illustrator was Prof. Dr. Paul Pfurtscheller. Pfurtscheller (1855 - 1927) produced a series of 39 "Zoologische Wandtafeln" (zoological wall plates) to be used for higher educational purposes. Although he was a modest high school teacher by training he gained recognition by the scientific Community worldwide for this outstanding work. The bee is "Plate 30" in the series. The Pfurtscheller wall charts were first published in Vienna, Austria, in 1902, by 'A. Pichler's Witwe & Sohn'. Later editions were also published by Dutch company 'Martinus Nijhoff' until 1953. This item was published by 'Martinus Nijhoff' presumably in the late 1920s. Beautiful use of colors (please note the translucent wings), and it is still one of the lithographed editions, whereas later editions used offset-printing. Lithography of course is an enormously demanding technique - especially at this large scale - which required 15 to 20 manual print-cycles for a single piece, since each color had to be applied separately. These colors of course were not supposed to overlap in the end. This process is what gives lithographs their extraordinary depth and unusual longevity to their colors. ·    ·