The Viper-mouth (Silurus cataphractus)

published 1731-1743

Mark Catesby

Associated Names
Mark Catesby

Artist, English, 1679 - 1749

This is a drawing of two fish species displayed on a plain background. The top fish has armor-like scales covering its body in a pattern, with spines on its fins and along its back. Its fins are small compared to its large, rounded head and body. The bottom fish is elongated and slender with a long body that tapers towards a small tail. It has an open mouth lined with teeth and antennae-like appendages near its jaws. There is an additional element near the bottom center of the drawing.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and engraving with hand coloring on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green

  • Dimensions

    plate: 26 x 35.7 cm (10 1/4 x 14 1/16 in.)
    sheet: 35.6 x 53.8 cm (14 x 21 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1991.163.97

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Natural History, Vol. appendix, no. 19

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green, Virginia; gift to NGA, 1991.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1771

  • Catesby, Mark. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. London: 1771.

Inscriptions

lower center in plate: MC; lower left in plate: MC; lower right in plate: 19; by later hand, lower center in graphite: "The Viper-mouth"

Watermarks

GR with shield

Wikidata ID

Q74895168

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