Descourtilz worked for the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. He was the son of French adventurer, botanist and naturalist Michel Etienne Descourtilz. The only other work that Descourtilz was known to have illustrated was his father's work Flore Pittoresque et Médicale des Antilles.

Pair of chromolithgraph plates of Trogons, printed in colour and finished by hand. Mounted, overall size: 73cm x 54cm.

Sitwell Fine Bird Books: 90