Subcategories

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  Jacob L’Admiral

  Curated Transformations & Natural Wonders

  Selected original hand-coloured engravings from Jacob L’Admiral’s 1774 work on insect metamorphosis.

  Rose Chafer Beetle

  Nannoarctia tripartita & Prunus domestica

  Nymphalis polychloros & Prunus avium

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  Jacob L’Admiral and the Metamorphosis of Insects – A Dutch Enlightenment Marvel (1774)

  Discover original hand-coloured copper engravings from Nauwkeurige Waarneemingen Omtrent de Veranderingen Van Veele Insekten (1774), the landmark Enlightenment work by the Dutch naturalist Jacob L’Admiral. These rare plates depict butterflies, moths, and beetles across their life cycles, often paired with their botanical host plants—uniting scientific observation with refined decorative composition.

  Within this collection you will find emblematic species rendered with remarkable clarity: Lepidoptera in transformation, Coleoptera with jewel-like iridescence, and narrative sequences that read almost like a visual laboratory notebook. For collectors, researchers, and design lovers alike, the pairing of insect and host plant creates a distinctive iconography—at once educational and quietly spectacular on the wall.

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  Buy with Confidence

  • Original antique prints — carefully selected and professionally preserved
  • Individually curated — each piece is unique and never a reproduction
  • Worldwide delivery via UPS / DHL Premium Express — free above €300
  • No customs duties or taxes worldwide — no delays, no extra charges upon delivery
  • Secure, professional packaging for safe international delivery
  • Returns accepted — a smooth, worry-free experience

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  Heritage Stories – The World of Metamorphosis

  These remarkable engravings belong to an age when naturalists sought to understand the hidden transformations of the insect world. Jacob L’Admiral’s work reflects the Enlightenment fascination with metamorphosis, observation and botanical relationships — bringing together butterflies, moths, beetles and host plants in compositions of extraordinary scientific and decorative power.

  Jacob L’Admiral and the Metamorphosis of Insects (1774) →

  This collection brings together antique entomological prints illustrating metamorphosis, host plants, and the refined visual language of 18th-century natural history. Explore the available Jacob L’Admiral engravings below to discover butterflies, moths and beetles — authentic works of Enlightenment science with remarkable cabinet-of-curiosities appeal.

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  Lucas Exotic Butterflies

  Curated Highlights from the Collection

  Selected original hand-coloured engravings from Lucas’ celebrated Exotic Butterflies.

  Blue Morpho — Morpho leonte Antique Butterfly Print

  Common Green Birdwing — Ornithoptera priamus Butterfly Print

  Orion Butterfly — Nymphalis orion Antique Print

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  Lucas – Exotic Butterflies: Antique Hand-Colored Engravings of Tropical Lepidoptera

  Discover a curated selection of original 19th-century hand-coloured engravings of exotic butterflies, produced under the scientific direction of the French entomologist Hippolyte Lucas. Created during a golden age of natural history publishing, these remarkable plates combine taxonomic precision with the refined aesthetics of classical engraving.

  Lucas’ celebrated work Exotic Butterflies illustrates some of the most spectacular tropical Lepidoptera ever documented in nineteenth-century science. Species such as Morpho, Prepona, Hypolimnas, Papilio, and Ornithoptera appear with exceptional clarity, revealing the extraordinary diversity of butterflies from Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

  Each engraving presents the butterfly with museum-like precision: the symmetry of the wings, luminous colour contrasts, and delicate scale structures are carefully rendered by master engravers such as Pauquet. The result is a body of work that functions simultaneously as scientific documentation and as refined decorative art.

  Today these plates are admired not only by collectors of natural history prints, but also by interior designers and art lovers seeking elegant antique butterfly wall art. Their luminous hand-colouring, balanced compositions, and historical authenticity give them a timeless decorative presence rarely matched by modern reproductions.

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  Buy with Confidence

  • Original antique prints — carefully selected and professionally preserved
  • Worldwide delivery via UPS / DHL Premium Express — free above €300
  • No customs duties or taxes worldwide — no delays, no extra charges upon delivery
  • Secure, professional packaging for safe international delivery
  • Returns accepted — a smooth, worry-free experience

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  Heritage Stories – Lucas, Pauquet, and the Art of Entomology

  These engravings belong to a remarkable moment in the history of science, when the beauty of tropical butterflies was revealed through the precision of engraving and the patience of hand-colouring. Under the scientific direction of Hippolyte Lucas, artists such as Pauquet transformed delicate specimens into enduring images of extraordinary clarity and elegance.

  Hippolyte Lucas — Scientific Vision and the Golden Age of Exotic Butterflies

  Pauquet — The Engraver Behind the Exotic Butterflies

  Looking for original antique butterfly prints from the 19th century? Explore Lucas’ Exotic Butterflies — hand-coloured entomology engravings featuring rare tropical species admired today both as scientific documents and refined antique butterfly wall art.