Duria Antiquior

I have worked with Eastern Biological to create a couple of exclusive pieces of work - a piece for a notebook entitled 'Duria Antiquior', and a limited edition 3 colour screen print entitled 'Late Jurassic'. Both are available to buy at the Eastern Biological shop in London and in their online shop.

Duria Antiquior, “a more ancient Dorset” was the first pictorial representation of a scene of prehistoric life based on evidence from fossils found on Lyme Regis' Jurassic Coast by Victorian fossil collector Mary Anning.

The fossils discovered are of creatures that existed from the last-Triassic, all the way through to the Cretaceous period, such as the Ichthyosaur, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon.

The original version was a watercolour painted in 1830 by the English geologist Henry De la Beche, with lithographic prints subsequently being made based on the painting, to raise money for Anning, who wasn't bestowed with riches, unlike her male counterparts. The print was largely used for educational purposes and circulated in scientific circles. It also influenced several other depictions, inspiring more contemporary versions, the genre now known as paleoart.

You can buy prints etc. of this piece here.