[Watercolour and pencil drawing of two Australian parrots, being the Major Mitchell Cockatoo and Swindern's Lovebird, 1835?] / attributed to Edward Lear

SSV/152

fonds

[1835?]

Graphic Materials, Drawings

9606093

1 drawing - watercolour and pencil - 19.5 x 15.3 cm

Edward Lear (1812-1888) was a British artist, traveller and nonsense poet best known for his collection of limericks and illustrated children’s verse. At the age of 19 he published "Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots" (1832), which featured mainly Australian birds. He was commissioned by John Gould and Lord Stanley to create illustrations of the exotic animals in both Lord Stanley’s private menagerie and in the London Zoo. He also provided 30 plates for Selby and Jardine's "Natural History of Parrots" (1836).

Prideaux John Selby (1788–1867) was an English ornithologist, botanist and natural history artist best known for his "Illustrations of British Ornithology(1821–1834) the first set of life-sized illustrations of British birds, as well as "Illustrations of Ornithology" and "Natural History of Parrots" with William Jardine.

Sir William Jardine (1800–1874) was a key figure in the history of Victorian-era science. He owned the finest private natural history museum and library in Britain and issued "The Naturalists' Library" (1833-1843), forty small, affordable volumes on birds, mammals, fish, and insects.

References:
A passion for parrots : Edward Lear down under / by Robert McCracken Peck. The Edward Lear Society. http://www.edwardlearsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Edward-Lear-landscope.pdf (accessed 18 July 2018)

Edward Lear, illustrator / by Robert McCracken Peck. Australian Museum, 2014.
https://australianmuseum.net.au/edward-lear-200 (accessed 22 March 2018)

Library correspondence file

Purchased by Peter Walker Fine Art from a private collector in Melbourne

Watercolour and pencil drawing of two Australian parrots, possibly being a preparatory sketch used in designing the frontispiece for "The Natural History of Parrots" (1836) by Selby and Jardine. The drawing depicts a Major Mitchell Cockatoo and Swinden's Lovebird on the branch of a tree, with foliage in the lower left corner. The background includes two islands, water and hills. The birds are in colour; the foliage and background are in black & white.

Lear produced two separate illustrations for "The Natural History of Parrots": the Major Mitchell Cockatoo (Plate 13) and Swindern’s Lovebird (Plate 11). This watercolour appears to combine the two illustrations. The frontispiece in the published volume was drawn by James Stewart, most likely after this sketch attributed to Lear. Stewart changed the background, replacing the islands and hills with an illustration of the Three Graces.

Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Natural history of parrots / By Prideaux J. Selby : Illustrated by thirty-two plates, with memoir and portrait of Bewick ; by the Rev. Mr. Turner, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Edinburgh : W.H. Lizars, 1836. Series title: The naturalist's library / Conducted by Sir William Jardine. Ornithology ; vol.6

"Jardine's Naturalist Library frontispiece" inscribed in pencil on verso of watercolour

"Leadbeater's Cockatoo -- Parrot. Original pencil and watercolour, frontispiece for Sir William Jardine's "The Naturalist Library", circa 1840" inscribed in pen on verso of frame.

Date based on publication of "Natural History of Parrots" in 1836