Lodestar Decorative

25/11/2025

Alberti’s Seba serpents engraving.

Printed 1802.

17/11/2025

Glacial Lake Iseo

Printed 1881.

16/11/2025

Neolithic Implements.

Printed 1881.

15/11/2025

Postglacial map of Europe.

Printed 1881.

14/11/2025

13/11/2025

This is for sale, you can buy it.

03/02/2025

Pair of framed copper engravings from the 1819 from edition of from Oxonia Antiqua Restaurata by Joseph Skelton.

Depicting ‘View of Carfax Conduit etc’ in one frame and ‘South Front of Queen’s college’ in the other.

Absolutely splendid, particularly for those of you with Oxford connections.

Resin gorilla skull for scale, I remembered it this time. Hurrah. Go me.

31/01/2025

Joseph Halfpenny engravings of some of the gothic ornaments of York Cathedral, from the publication ‘Gothic Ornaments of the Cathedral at York’, published in 1795. Yes. I suspect that was a long meeting to come up with that title.

I forgot to include the resin gorilla skull for scale, you’ll have to imagine it, using the Victorian icebox they rest on for a clue, or visit the website for dimensions.

These are lovely, go on, dare to be different.

16/01/2025

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Down to the last half dozen of these now. I once had over 60 in stock. Please, someone, buy them, they needs to live on a wall, not on my shelves. Make me a silly offer for all six.

Finely illustrated coloured plates from Familiar Wild Flowers publication figured by F Edward Hulme, dating to around 1879.

Presented in a bespoke, hand-crafted mounts and wooden frames with glass, recently made by a local fine art trade guild and guild commended framer.

10/01/2025

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Set of three original and exceptional hand-coloured copper plate engravings from watermarked laid paper from the exceedingly rare publication Natursystem aller Bekannten in-und Ausländischen Insekten by Carl Gustav Jablonsky (b.1756 - d.1787), published between 1783 and 1804.

Jablonsky was a German naturalist, entomologist and illustrator, he was also private secretary to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (b.1715 - d..1797), the Queen of Prussia.

These engravings are from one of the earliest and most comprehensive catalogues of butterflies and insects. The publication was for made for biologists, as well as for aristocrats interested in learning about the latest discoveries. These engravings are not only scientifically accurate but also aesthetically beautiful with their natural shapes, colours and decorative patterns.

Predominantly swallow tail examples, this set is exquisite and extremely decorative.

Other highlights are the green-banded swallowtail, the great jay, the ceylon blue glassy tiger, the wood nymph, the ismare tiger, the common forest queen, the blue tiger, the striped blue crow, the friar, the red ring skirt and Ruth’s blue.

Mounted in hand-crafted wooden frames with glass, this set is exceptional and ready to display.

nteriordesign

07/01/2025

Set of four hand finished chromolithograph plates from the first edition of Fritz Leuba’s ‘Les Champignons Comestibles et les Especes Veneneuses’, published in Paris in 1890.

These examples are of morel mushrooms (plates XLIV, XLVI & XLVII) and false morel mushrooms (plate XLVIII) and are presented behind glass in bespoke frames, hand made to conservation standards.

06/01/2025

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A set of original, hand-coloured folio size shell copper engravings from Nicolo Gualtieri’s ‘Index Testarum Conchyliorum’ (pub. Florence, 1742). Illustrated by Giuseppe Menabuoni (d. 1745) and engraved by Antonio Pazzi (d. 1768).

The engravings reflect the style of 18th-century natural history illustration, where accuracy was paramount, yet there was an undeniable focus on capturing the natural elegance of the subjects.

These illustrations contributed significantly to the growing interest in natural history during the Enlightenment period and remain a valuable historical and scientific resource today.

It is very unusual to find illustrations of ocean molluscs in this scale from this time period. They are highly sought after and are highly decorative. Mounted in hand-crafted wooden frames (from Italy) with glass, ready to be enjoyed and admired for the next few hundred years.