Charming Watercolor of an African Elephant

Loxodonta Africana (African Elephant). Pierre Jacques Smit (1863-1960). Pencil and watercolor. c. 1893. Signed lower right: P.J. Smit. 5 1/8 x 7 7/8 inches sheet. A Charming Image of an African Elephant.
Joseph Smit and his son Pierre-Jacques were prolific artists and lithographers working in London in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During their careers, the Smit's contributed to many important zoological and ornithological publications. The elder Smit worked closely with Joseph Wolf, Daniel Giraud Elliot, Joseph Keulemans, and Archibald Thorburn. This highly skilled core of artists produced some of the most aesthetically pleasing and scientifically accurate renderings of natural history ever produced.
This watercolor was produced as an engraving for R. Lydekker's The Royal Natural History, which was the most comprehensive animal encyclopedia in print at the time.