De koningh van Allekatten / en de koningh van Ternate / met alderhande wilde en tamme gedierten 1711 - 1723

This hand-colored etching was made by Jacobus Conynenberg, probably in the early 18th century. It's a menagerie of creatures, both real and imagined – an elephant, a camel, a unicorn, a griffin. The print’s strength lies in the artist's process. To create an etching, Conynenberg would have coated a metal plate with wax, then scratched an image into the wax with a needle. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed lines. Finally, ink was applied to the plate and then printed onto paper. The thin, precise lines of the etching, with the added colour, lend a delicate air to the image, yet also a sense of authority, as though this bestiary has been scientifically recorded. Consider the labor involved in each impression, and what it signifies. This was a commercial venture, of course. But it also reflects the widespread impulse to collect and categorize the natural world that was characteristic of the period, and the expansion of the colonial world. By understanding the materials and making of this print, we can better appreciate its social and cultural significance.