Beautiful, functional placemats for dining pleasure and table surface protection. Durably made to provide decades of use when treated kindly.
Hand made in the UK from a combination of forest certified timber industry by-product, recycled paper, solvent free inks and plant derived laminates. Biodegradable.
Simply clean with a damp cloth and then dry. Not dishwasher proof.
Dimensions; 32cm x 22cm.
Here we have an variety of interesting and pretty fish from tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world’s oceans.
The Dotted Butterflyfish and Longfin Bannerfish are both of the Butterflyfish family, closely related to the Angelfish family. The main difference between Butterflyfish and Angelfish being, Angelfish have a preopercle spine, a toxic serrated spine that sits at the bottom of their gill plate. There are 114 Butterflyfish species and 86 Angelfish species living, mostly in reef areas, of all of the world’s oceans.
Living not only on coral reefs but also in coastal areas are the Black Belly and the Blue Triggerfish. So called because they have a dorsal spine which is locked in place by a second smaller spine, the former only able to be unlocked by depressing the latter ‘trigger’ spine. There are 40 Triggerfish species living in the world’s oceans today.
Inhabiting deeper waters, from the rocky shelving edges of coral reefs to much deeper water are the Soliderfish and Bigeye families of fish. Both families consist mainly of nocturnal species with distinctively large eyes and deep red and silver colouring. There are 28 Soldierfish species and 19 Bigeye species currently living amongst all of the world’s oceans.
The exception in this collection, included due to its aesthetically fitting spiny’ness, is the John Dory. More widely distributed than the other fish here and more often in deeper and colder waters. A demersal, sea bottom dwelling, fish typically living between 50-100m in depth. Also known as the Saint Pierre, as legend has it that the fish has the thumbprint of Saint Peter, the patron saint of fisherman, on its side. There are 5 species of the wider Dory family living around the world today.
The originals in this collection were drawn by two illustrators; an American explorer, naturalist and ichthyologist, Mr. Andrew Garrett and his work from the 1860’s and 1870’s, and the Irish zoologist and illustrator, Edward Donovan and his work from 1800’s to 1810’s.
Our team has digitally remastered these fabulous antique zoological illustrations to modern day production standards for the continued enjoyment of the public.
