Vespae Hornets - D. F. Sotzmann, 1784. (Insects Wall Art)
This print feels sharp and quiet at the same time. The hornets are spaced out on the page like a careful study, so it reads cleanly as wall art even from across the room. It fits naturally in a study, office, or hallway where you want home decor that feels old, calm, and a little curious.
About this print
This print comes from Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst’s Kurze Einleitung zur Kenntniss der Insekten, published in Berlin in the mid 1780s. Herbst wrote it as a practical guide for readers who wanted to understand “the main groups” of what people then gathered under arthropods, not just insects but also spiders, crabs, and scorpions. It has that classic late 18th century feel: tidy layout, clean labeling, and an obvious goal of teaching your eye what to notice.
The hornets here are shown under “Vespae,” tied to the genus Vespa. Instead of a scene, it gives you clear forms and markings, like specimens laid out on a desk. Plates from this period are credited to Herbst and D. F. Sotzmann, a Berlin cartographer and copper engraver, which helps explain why the page feels both scientific and well designed.
If you want to see the same late 18th century “teaching page” approach, but with a wider look at winged insects beyond hornets, Hymenoptera is an easy comparison because it shows how these books trained people to sort shapes at a glance.
Craft & finish
This print is made on hand-processed paper, highlighted with subtle gold and sealed with beeswax for an authentic parchment feel. Please note that colors can look slightly different from screen to screen.
Find more prints like this in the Vintage Insects Art collection.
Vespae Hornets (D. F. Sotzmann, 1784.) - Vintage Insects Print
In case your print creases during the travel, as it usually does travel for some time, you can safely warm it up with a hair-dryer, and the wax will melt back right into it. You can also use a lighter, which is a much faster method, but be careful to keep the flame either above the paper or parallel to it (which means holding the paper vertically) so it doesn't smudge or even catch fire. The chance of the print actually creasing is very small, as they are rolled in bubble-wrap and shipped in a cardboard box. Also, be sure to keep the print out of the direct sunlight, as it can melt or fade.
Visit the link below to see more about how our replicas are made, how to display them, and repair the damage:
https://www.artifex-replicas.com/post/about-our-parchment-replicas
