Perry Pl. 20, Cypraea

The Oppenheimer Editions print of Perry Pl. 20, Cypraea is a perfect addition to your seaside home!

This modern facsimile print records an assortment of shell specimens organized in a harmonious composition. Adorn your home with this aesthetic and informative natural history print!

About Conchology, or the Natural History of Shells

Published in 1811, Conchology, or the Natural History of Shells was an illustrated study of shells and the creatures that occupy them. Created by George Perry, the shell illustrations were based on specimens in the British Museum and local private collections. The folio was intended to instruct those interested in marine life and to serve as a visual reference and source of inspiration for artists, designers, and architects. Perry’s folio was the only shell book to contain hand-colored aquatint engravings.

Printed with archival pigments on rag watercolor paper, this Oppenheimer Editions print faithfully captures the detail and color of Perry’s original shell engraving. Issued in a limited edition of 200, this modern print is embossed with the Oppenheimer Editions logo.

About George Perry

George Perry (b. 1771) was a Liverpool architect and sculptor who pursued a career in natural history after moving to London in 1807. While in London, Perry joined a circle of naturalists who observed flaws in the Linnean system of classification – the dominant system for classifying natural specimens at the time. Instead, he and his friends looked to the writings of French naturalists Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier whose theories better suited the taxonomy of fossils and shells. Perry’s most notable illustrated publication was Conchology, or the Natural History of Shells (1811) which sought to introduce a new system of classifying shells through beautifully illuminated aquatint engravings.

About Oppenheimer Editions

Established in 1999, our publishing company Oppenheimer Editions was developed in order to produce modern facsimiles of historic works of art. Marrying cutting-edge digital printing technologies with canonical works of art, Oppenheimer Editions has partnered with prestigious museums to make their holdings accessible to the public as fine art prints. Works from the New-York Historical Society’s unrivaled collections of John James Audubon’s watercolors and the Hudson River School paintings are examples of art that otherwise would be unobtainable.

Among the institutional collections we have partnered with are the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Our Oppenheimer Editions prints are not mere reproductions. Rather, they are limited-edition fine art prints made with the finest quality archival pigments on rag watercolor paper and executed to exacting standards.

To learn more about Perry Pl. 20, Cypraea, email us at [email protected] or check out our articles Evolving Impressions – Unfolding the History of Prints as Art Objects and Collectibles and What is an Engraving? A Guide to Intaglio Printmaking Techniques.