1769 Buffon French Engraving, Le Sanglier & Le Cochon de Siam

An original 18th century French engraving from the 1769 edition of Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, published in Paris by the Imprimerie Royale.

This wonderful double plate depicts Le Sanglier, the wild boar, above Le Cochon de Siam, the Siamese pig. Both animals are rendered with beautifully detailed coats and shown within individual landscapes, including distant architecture, foliage and a small stone bridge.

From Tome VI, the plate is signed Bréant Sculp.

Each engraving in this collection was individually removed from the same 1769 volume and is an authentic period print, not a later reproduction. Over 250 years old, the paper shows the expected signs of age, including toning, spotting and variations along the edges, all visible in the photographs.

France, 1769
Original copperplate engraving on laid paper