Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date
c. 1751
Type
ART-Prints, Original
Medium
Print, Etching on Paper, Uncolored
Artist
Louis Peter Boitard
Physical Description
Uncolored etching of a fantasy aerial battle. The scene shows one man aloft using two sticks with paddles on the ends as wings to fly. This is clearly a reference to the Swiss clock-maker Besnier who suggested just such an arrangement. Another man with small, broken, fan-like wings is hanging on to the other man's legs, as his wings are not working. A large crowd with classical clothes and odd hats is on the ground, watching. A large frog with baby frogs on its back is sitting in the foreground. Behind the frog is a large nautilus shell, and behind the shell is a cow with three eyes and six legs.
'L.P. Boitard Invt. & Sculp.' 'According to Act of Parliament 1751.'
Dimensions
Mat: 30.5 × 25.4cm (12 × 10 in.)
Unmatted: 20.8 × 15.2cm (8 3/16 in. × 6 in.)
Inventory Number
A20140668000
Credit Line
Gift of the Norfolk Charitable Trust
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
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