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A Gallery of 18th-Century Animals

Horse-drawn carriages, cattle and sheep grazing in pastures, and chickens strutting in fenced enclosures throughout the Historic Area help re-create the sights and sounds of 18th-century Virginia. The animals are an important part of the story of the colonial life interpreted at Colonial Williamsburg.

This month's "Image of the Month" is actually four pairs of images. In each pair, the image on the left is an 18th or early 19th century primary source while the image on the right is a modern photograph of a similar animal found in our Historic Area.

Primary Source
Modern Photograph
"The Domestic Cock," from Blanche Cirker, ed. 1800 Woodcuts by Thomas Bewick and His School (New York, 1962), plate 79, no. 1.
A Speckled Hamburg rooster
Detail from a "Four Seasons" handkerchief, Great Britain, ca. 1820s. Acc. no. G1971-1445
Milking Red Devon
"Race Horse Antinous", engraved by Francis Sartorius, London, England, 1748. Acc. no. 1950-60
Horse racing was very popular in colonial Virginia
"Leicestershire improved Breed," detail from a bookplate from Thomas Pott, The British Farmer's Cyclopedia..., London, England, 1809.
Leicester Longwool sheep