Jacob L’Admiral (Dutch, 1700–1770)
Emperor Gum Moth with Caterpillar and Pupae
Watercolor on paper
Paper size: 14 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. Mount size: 19 x 14 1/2 in.
Provenance: Henry Rogers Broughton, 2nd Baron Fairhaven

Opodiphthera eucalypti, the emperor gum moth, is native to Australia. The emperor gum moth may inhabit all states of Australia. However, it is scarce in the more southerly states where the climate is less suitable.

Emperor gum moth caterpillars are black when they hatch but change color as they mature. The fully grown caterpillars have a striking coloration with a yellow/cream stripe down their bright green/blue body and nodes of red and blue.

Jacob l’Admiral was a talented entomologist and author of Naauwkeurige Waarneemingen omtrent de Veranderingen van Veele Insekten, published in 1740, containing beautiful images of butterflies and other flying insects and their related plants.

L’Admiral belonged to a distinguished Norman family. He started studying butterflies at ten and developed into a gifted entomologist who carefully observed metamorphosis.  

In 1740, L’Admiral published Naauwkeurige Waarneemingen omtrent de Veranderingen van Veele Insekten, a summary of his thirty years of study. The artist engraved twenty-five of the plates. (Jacob and his brother Jan were trained in engraving by the London engraver Jakob Christof le Blon.)  He meant to expand the series further, but L’Admiral was appointed general inspector of the United Netherlands, which halted the project’s continuance.

Original watercolors by Jacob L’Admiral are rare, and thus this represents a unique opportunity to acquire one of his coveted works.