Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from Volume VI of Marc Elieser Bloch’s Ichtyologie, ou Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des poissons. This twelve-volume work published in Berlin between 1785 and 1797 stands as one of the most visually stunning and scientifically significant achievements in the history of ichthyology. Written by Bloch, a prominent German-Jewish physician and naturalist, this ambitious encyclopedia systematically cataloged and described hundreds of fish species from around the globe using Carl Linnaeus’s modern binomial nomenclature. The series is internationally renowned for its 432 exquisite, hand-colored copperplate engravings, which were executed by skilled artists like Andreas-Ludwig Krüger. To capture the iridescent, lifelike sheen of living fish scales, the illustrators pioneeringly applied actual gold, silver, and bronze leaf to some of the prints, elevating the publication from a rigorous scientific text to an absolute pinnacle of late 18th-century European natural history illustration.

The cursive script in the top right corner of this print displays Carl Linnaeus's early scientific name for the species, Squalus zygaena, along with historical multi-lingual common names: Der Hammerfisch in German, Le Marteau in French, and The Balance Fish in English. The hand-colored copperplate engraving features a lateral view of the shark with striking golden-yellow eyes alongside a distinct ventral anatomical inset in the lower-left corner that clearly showcases the mouth structure, rows of sharp teeth, and the specialized, un-notched central profile of its hammer-shaped head.