Poster of the 20th century Paul Pfurtscheller "centipede" 1912

Wall chart on a large scale of the anatomy of the 'Lithobius forficatus", (stone centipede). Lithograph on 2 sheets of paper, mounted on canvas. Colors live, a Groove, slight discoloration, cracks at the top of the Center, Ribbon of protection around the edges, but overall very good condition has given its age and usage. Author and Illustrator was Professor Paul Pfurtscheller. Pfurtscheller (1855-1927) produced a series of 39 'Beaitifull Wandtafeln' (Zoological wall plates) to be used for higher education purposes. Although he was a high school teacher in modest training he won the recognition by the scientific community in the world for this outstanding work. The centipede is 'Plate 21' in the series. Pfurtscheller wall paintings were first published in Vienna, Austria, in 1902, by 'widow & Sohn of A. Pichler. Later editions were published by the Dutch company "Martinus Nijhoff" until 1953. This article was published in Vienna, Austria, by "In A. Pichler widow & Sohn" probably around 1912. Nice use of colors and it is one of the editions very early on all sides, while later editions used offset printing. Of course, lithography is an extremely demanding technique - especially at this large scale - which required up to 20 cycles of manual printing for a single piece, because each color should be applied separately. These colors of course should not be to ride in the end. This process is giving lithographs their extraordinary depth and unusual longevity to their colors.

Ref. : O5HuRMC