Ptarmigan
Maker
(artist)
1694-1773
1694-1773
Title
Ptarmigan
Date of Production
(June) 1764
Medium
graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
Dimensions
Height: 38.3 cm
Width: 32.1 cm
Width: 32.1 cm
Accession Number
D.1952.RW.4531
Mode of Acquisition
Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
George Edwards produced over 600 drawings, to be reproduced in publications such as 'A Natural History of Uncommon Birds and Animals...', 4 vols, 1743-51. This watercolour demonstrates the way in which attitudes towards the medium varied according to the category of work being produced. The bright green used here would have been anathema for a landscape watercolourist; Edward Dayes advised "The vegetation should not be coloured too green ... as nothing can have a more common or vulgar air, than too much green."
Provenance
Walker Galleries (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), n.d., for 400 shillings; Witt Bequest 1952
Literature
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 18
p. 18
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: Recto, left centre: "J WHATMAN".
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower right (within drawing), brown ink, signed and dated: “G. Edwards Delin: June. 1764.”. Mount (removed, cut down and glued to new mount): graphite, underlined: “Ptarmigan”.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower right (within drawing), brown ink, signed and dated: “G. Edwards Delin: June. 1764.”. Mount (removed, cut down and glued to new mount): graphite, underlined: “Ptarmigan”.
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