Goats: Plate 7: A nanny-goat suckling her kid.

The Dutch printmaker Marcus de Bye (also de Bije/ de Bie) is little-known in relation to his talent and prolificness. He was born in The Hague in 1639 and died after 1688.  He became a pupil of Jacob van der Does in 1658. Better known as an engraver and etcher than a painter, he engraved several series of animal studies after Paulus Potter and also produced a number of original engravings.

Te Papa has a near complete set (seven out of eight plates) from the Goats and he-goats series, based on designs by the brilliant but sadly short-lived animal artist Paulus Potter (1625-1654), and subsequently published by Nicolaes Visscher the Elder. The prints were presented to the Colonial Museum in 1869 by Bishop Ditlev Monrad. This etching, plate 7 in the series, depicts a nanny goat suckling her kid. She has her mouth open, as if to reprimand her kid and perhaps say 'Hey, go easy'. An added touch of charm is given to this family scene by placing the characters at a viewpoint/altitude, evident in the landscape and tiny clouds, bottom left.

See: British Museum Collection online, https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1617092&partId=1&searchText=de+bye+goat&page=1

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   April 2019