# Marcus Elieser Bloch artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/marcus-elieser-bloch/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T11:42:02.855Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: German
- Common media: Illustrated natural-history books and printed plates, Fish illustrations drawn from nature for publication

## Portrait

![Marcus Elieser Bloch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Marcus_Elieser_Bloch.jpg)
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcus_Elieser_Bloch.jpg

## About Marcus Elieser Bloch

Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) was a German physician, zoologist, naturalist, and leading eighteenth-century writer on fish. His enduring association with ichthyology comes from a multivolume natural history of fishes illustrated with plates based on observations from nature. Authority and library records consistently identify him as an author, while IdRef also records illustrator roles connected with several publications. Bloch therefore occupies an unusual place on an artist-market page: collectors are more likely to encounter his name through scientific books, fish plates, and works on paper than through autonomous paintings or sculpture. His images belong to the visual culture of eighteenth-century natural history, where observation, classification, publishing, and printmaking worked together. For appraisal, it is important to separate Bloch's scientific authorship or original design from other production roles. A sheet or volume connected with Bloch can be historically meaningful without being a unique work made entirely by his hand.

## Common works and media

Collectors may encounter illustrated natural-history books, individual fish plates, and other works on paper associated with Bloch's publications. The source pack identifies Histoire naturelle des poissons and describes figures drawn from nature, while library data records Bloch as both author and illustrator. Each object should be catalogued by its actual format, edition, publication context, and supported creative role; a plate carrying Bloch's name does not by itself establish that he engraved, printed, or colored it.

## Market and appraisal context

The collected Appraisily market page places Bloch-related material primarily within works on paper, prints, editions, and broader decorative-art categories, but those labels are generic and should be checked against the individual lot. Comparison should begin with like-for-like objects: a complete illustrated volume, an individual plate, a later impression, and a reproduction are not equivalent. Relevant factors include medium and format, size, date, condition and restoration, inscriptions, edition details, attribution confidence, provenance, catalogue references, and recent comparable public sales. The current page reports a broad observed price range, so its aggregate statistics should not be treated as a prediction. Auction feeds can be incomplete, and changes in attribution or lot description may materially affect comparability.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with matched public auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Records may be incomplete and should be reviewed for object-level attribution and comparability.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q64268
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/12377612/
- IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/067042805
- Bibliothèque nationale de France: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12321694f
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Elieser_Bloch
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/marcus-elieser-bloch/
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcus_Elieser_Bloch.jpg