- Title: The Short Horned Breed
- Author: David Low
- Date: 1842
- Medium: Hand-colored lithograph
- Condition: Very good - light foxing, age toning
- Inches: 14 5/8 x 10 5/8 [Image]
- Centimeters: 37.15 x 26.99 [Image]
- Product ID: 233300
Cow, bred by Mr. Hunt, Thornington; - by Reformer, dam by Raby, grandam by Sir Oliver &c.
Professor Low's Illustrations of the Breeds of the Domestic Animals
Hand-colored lithograph from David Low's The Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Islands, a pioneering work illustrating the major modern breeds of horses, cows, sheep, and pigs in Britain.
David Low, professor of agriculture at the University of Edinburgh, produced these lithographs as a reference for those interested in the infant science of selective breeding. He was concerned that the relatively simple concepts of matching a breed to its environment whilst improving productivity were not understood by the majority of farmers or breeders. With the help of a government grant from Frederick, 4th Earl Spencer, Low set up the agriculture museum in Edinburgh. The artist William Shiels of the Royal Scottish Academy was commissioned to produce a series of paintings of all economically-significant breeds in Great Britain at the time, which Low then used as a reference for his lithographs.