Landscape with a Young Bird-catcher
Landscape with a Young Bird-catcher
Landscape with a Young Bird-catcherInscribed upper right: 42 Pencil and watercolour on laid paper19.3 by 31.7 cm., 7 ½ by 12 ½ in.Provenance:Leonard Duke (1890-1971);With Davis & Langdale, New York, 1987;Private collection until 2011;With WS Fine Art/Andrew Wyld, 2011;Private collection until 2022Literature:Davis & Langdale, British Watercolours, 1987, no.8, ill.;Susan Sloman, Exhibition Catalogue, WS Fine Art, 2011, p.58, no.28, ill. p.59Exhibited:New York, Davis & Langdale, British Watercolours, 1987, no.8;London, WS Fine Art/Andrew Wyld, 29th June to 22nd July 2011, no.28Bird-catching was a popular pastime in the early nineteenth century as songbirds, especially linnets and goldfinches, were caught and sold in markets as caged birds. Here the boy has set up a lure in the form of an already caged bird near some teasel which would have been especially attractive to goldfinches. When birds flew in, he would use nets to capture them. Selling songbirds was a way for families from poorer backgrounds to supplement their income.){kind=link}
Joshua Cristall P.O.W.S. (1768-1847)
Landscape with a Young Bird-catcher
Inscribed upper right: 42
Pencil and watercolour on laid paper
19.3 by 31.7 cm., 7 ½ by 12 ½ in.
Provenance:
Leonard Duke (1890-1971);
With Davis & Langdale, New York, 1987;
Private collection until 2011;
With WS Fine Art/Andrew Wyld, 2011;
Private collection until 2022
Literature:
Davis & Langdale, British Watercolours, 1987, no.8, ill.;
Susan Sloman, Exhibition Catalogue, WS Fine Art, 2011, p.58, no.28, ill. p.59
Exhibited:
New York, Davis & Langdale, British Watercolours, 1987, no.8;
London, WS Fine Art/Andrew Wyld, 29th June to 22nd July 2011, no.28
Bird-catching was a popular pastime in the early nineteenth century as songbirds, especially linnets and goldfinches, were caught and sold in markets as caged birds. Here the boy has set up a lure in the form of an already caged bird near some teasel which would have been especially attractive to goldfinches. When birds flew in, he would use nets to capture them. Selling songbirds was a way for families from poorer backgrounds to supplement their income.