the author of this 6 drawing, Friedrich Specht (1839 Lauffen am Nektar - 1909 Stuttgart) was a German painter and natural history illustrator. He held his first exhibition at the Stuttgart Art Academy. He provided illustrations of animals and landscapes for a large number of zoology and veterinary science publications, notably for the first edition of Brehms Tierleben (1864-69) designed by Alfred Edmund Brehm, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (1890 -1907), Carl Vogt's Mammals in Words and Pictures (1883–89), and Richard Lydekker's Royal Natural History (1894–96). His brothers were the wood engraver Carl Gottlob Specht and the animal painter August Specht (1849–1923). He was responsible for the lion's head on Adolf Gnauth's [de] memorial to the fallen warriors of Stuttgart.
Literature: Thieme/Becker XXX; Benezit; Wikipedia.
Technique: chacon: anthracite/grey paper, partially watercoloured, unframed.
Dimensions: 3 largest of deer, whale and elephant: 32 x 23.5 cm; fish drawing: 14 x 9 cm; dolphin drawing 11 x 7 cm; narwhal whale drawing 13 x 7.5 cm.
inscriptions: all signed, and on the back titled.
Condition: very good.