Les Serins Savants
Date1816
MediumHand colored
DimensionsOverall: 6 1/8 x 4 3/8 in. (15.6 x 11.1 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit Line?
Object numberSN1546.131.48
This charming print is a plate from the volume Les Animaux Savants (Intelligent Animals) published in Paris in 1816. The book featured the stories of a variety of animals trained to performer extraordinary tricks. This particular image was the introduction to a chapter about a group of trained Dutch canaries. The book seems to have created children’s stories around real performers of the day.
In the chapter about the trained canaries, Monsieur Belmont has been hired to entertain children with his trained birds from the Canary Islands. The text includes Belmont’s commands and describes in detail the twelve different tricks presented by various feats of the birds as seen in this illustration. These tricks include balancing in its head, shooting a cannon, and even playing dead.
On View
Not on view
1840s
The Strobridge Lithographing Company
1900
Unknown
Early-19th century