Visual Materials
An illustrated album by Henry de La Cuisine containing a catalog of antique items, natural specimens, artwork, and miscellaneous materials belonging to the estate of his father, Elisabeth-François de La Cuisine. The cover page is signed by the artist in the top right corner, "Henry de La Cuisine," and the title reads, "Catalogue de mes armes & objets d'antiquité, lépidoptères & insectes divers, variétés & espèces rares ou inédites. Dessins d'après nature." The album includes three illustrated title pages, with materials grouped under: catalog of weapons (121 items); paintings, engravings, and albums (69 items); natural history specimens (961 items); family objects from father's estate (65 items); and books (328 items). The volume lists over 1,500 items from Italy, Spain, Persia, Japan, Turkey, Egypt, China, India, and other countries, dating from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Some pages include annotations by the artist, and within the artworks category, he mentions the names of many historic family members. In no specific order, the album contains 62 illustrated plates in iron ball pen, oil, and gouache paint depicting vibrant images of weapons (swords, rifles, revolvers, daggers), relics and reliquaries (crosses, rosaries, figurines), animals (beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, seahorses, sea stars, sea snails, chameleons), minerals and precious metals (coal, aquamarine, copper carbonate, quartz, lazulite), and miscellaneous oddities. The plates are signed "H de LC" by the artist, and the illustrated figures are labeled. The album is bound in red half morocco with gilt fillets and a decorated spine. The item is fragile, and some of the plates are detaching from the binding.
priPEF 113
