The Good Luck Fish

kottke.org May 16, 2025 By Jason Kottke

illustration of two bright orange goldfish over a pale green background

illustration of three goldfish over a pale green background

The Public Domain Review has published some lovely illustrations of goldfish from a 1780 monograph called Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine.

Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine (1780) — the dorades in the title refers not to sea bream but the fish’s gilded appearance — was the first monograph on goldfish published in Europe, from a time when the fish were still bound up with Eastern exoticism in the Western imagination.

You can peruse the entire document at the Internet Archive.

Tags: art · fish · illustration

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

illustration of two bright orange goldfish over a pale green background

illustration of three goldfish over a pale green background

The Public Domain Review has published some lovely illustrations of goldfish from a 1780 monograph called Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine.

Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine (1780) — the dorades in the title refers not to sea bream but the fish’s gilded appearance — was the first monograph on goldfish published in Europe, from a time when the fish were still bound up with Eastern exoticism in the Western imagination.

You can peruse the entire document at the Internet Archive.

Tags: art · fish · illustration

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

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