John and Elizabeth Gould

Common Cormorant
Phalacrocorax Carbo

21.5 x 14 inches

A lithograph in original hand colour; drawn and lithographed by John and Elizabeth Gould and published in their magnificent opus Birds of Europe in London between 1832 and 1837.

John Gould (1804-81) was without doubt the most accomplished and prolific ornithological artist of the nineteenth century. He lived a long life and travelled extensively so his output numbered over 3000 studies of birds both domestic and exotic. The Birds of Europe comes from early on in Gould's life when he was assisted by his equally capable wife Elizabeth and she is responsible for much of the work at this stage, including this fabulous image of the male and female common cormorant.

Cormorants are a common site around the coast of the British Isles and a firm favourite for twitchers along the Thames in central London. They represent bravery and resourcefulness; qualities that it is easy to identify when you marvel at them ducking and diving along the Thames from Richmond to Rotherhithe.