Lot Essay
La gerboise appartient à la famille des rongeurs (Dipodidae). Certaines espèces vivent en Afrique du Nord comme l'indique la légende du dessin qui indique 'Gerbouh', mot arabe utilisé pour désigner cet animal. Une autre présentation de gerboise par Adanson est conservé au Victoria & Albert Museum de Londres (inv. no. SD. 10).
A group of natural history drawings by Jean-Baptiste Adanson from a French private collection.
Active as an interpreter in Constantinople from 1750, Jean-Baptiste, brother of the naturalist Michel (1727-1806), was French consul in Egypt between 1775 and 1785. Part of his travel notes, hos notes on religion, astrology, ancient Egyptian cults and his drawings are kept at the Musée Voltaire in Geneva (‘L’Égypte des Lumières. Clin d’œil à Jean-Baptiste Adanson’, in La Gazette. Revue électronique de l’Institut et du Musée Voltaire, Summer 2007, no. 14). Two other drawings representing a Eurasian hoopoe and an African heron and belonging to the same series as the ones offered here were sold at auction at Sotheby’s, New York, lots 78 and 79.
A group of natural history drawings by Jean-Baptiste Adanson from a French private collection.
Active as an interpreter in Constantinople from 1750, Jean-Baptiste, brother of the naturalist Michel (1727-1806), was French consul in Egypt between 1775 and 1785. Part of his travel notes, hos notes on religion, astrology, ancient Egyptian cults and his drawings are kept at the Musée Voltaire in Geneva (‘L’Égypte des Lumières. Clin d’œil à Jean-Baptiste Adanson’, in La Gazette. Revue électronique de l’Institut et du Musée Voltaire, Summer 2007, no. 14). Two other drawings representing a Eurasian hoopoe and an African heron and belonging to the same series as the ones offered here were sold at auction at Sotheby’s, New York, lots 78 and 79.