Wonderfully vintage box turtle drawing. Another of the many animal illustrations that were part of the extensive work Encyclopedie d’histoire naturelle from 1856. Jean-Charles Chenu (1808-1879) wrote it and a number of other books about the natural world around us.
I think when it comes to box turtles, they are not always appreciated for their pretty shells. We have some that visit our backyard on a regular basis. Their shells are darkly colored with a variety of stripes and patterns in yellows and oranges. Each turtle has its own unique shell design.
This box turtle is in simple black and white but you could easily colorize him to your own fancy. Then he too would have his own unique shell.
This version is quite a bit smaller than the original. He’s simply too big to fit within the design of Reusable Art. But, you can access the full-size version of this box turtle drawing just by clicking on the little fellow shown here.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
