Study of a Greater Coucal from the Collection of the 1st Baron Wenlock
India (Calcutta), ca. 1800–1850
Opaque colours and ink on paper
47.3 cm high, 32.1 cm wide
47.3 cm high, 32.1 cm wide
A5325
Further images
Provenance: Collection of Paul Beilby Lawley Thompson, 1st Baron Wenlock (1784–1852).
Christie's London, 'Watercolours and Pictures of Birds', 30 September 1997, lot 20.
A life-size watercolour study of the greater coucal or crow pheasant (Centropus sinensis), a large member of the cuckoo family with a range spanning the Indian subcontinent and much of South-East Asia. The feathers have been rendered in minute detail, demonstrating the skill of the artist. The tail has been left unfinished, revealing a pencil underdrawing.
Studies of flora and fauna painted by Indian artists and commissioned by Europeans are called Company School, referring to the affiliation of a majority of patrons with the East India Company. The artists worked from life and might be granted access to local aviaries and menageries. There were two primary centres for Company School bird paintings: Lucknow and Calcutta. Works created in Calcutta, like the present example, tend to lack any background. The resultant watercolours served two purposes: they were both souvenirs which accompanied their owners back to England and important taxonomic studies, frequently documenting species as yet unknown to Europeans.
Another Calcutta School study of a Coucal, dated to ca. 1826 and painted in Calcutta, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (accession no. E. 1338-1927).
This study is numbered ‘418’ and inscribed in Persian ‘mahuk' [greater coucal].
Christie's London, 'Watercolours and Pictures of Birds', 30 September 1997, lot 20.
A life-size watercolour study of the greater coucal or crow pheasant (Centropus sinensis), a large member of the cuckoo family with a range spanning the Indian subcontinent and much of South-East Asia. The feathers have been rendered in minute detail, demonstrating the skill of the artist. The tail has been left unfinished, revealing a pencil underdrawing.
Studies of flora and fauna painted by Indian artists and commissioned by Europeans are called Company School, referring to the affiliation of a majority of patrons with the East India Company. The artists worked from life and might be granted access to local aviaries and menageries. There were two primary centres for Company School bird paintings: Lucknow and Calcutta. Works created in Calcutta, like the present example, tend to lack any background. The resultant watercolours served two purposes: they were both souvenirs which accompanied their owners back to England and important taxonomic studies, frequently documenting species as yet unknown to Europeans.
Another Calcutta School study of a Coucal, dated to ca. 1826 and painted in Calcutta, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (accession no. E. 1338-1927).
This study is numbered ‘418’ and inscribed in Persian ‘mahuk' [greater coucal].
Provenance: Collection of Paul Beilby Lawley Thompson, 1st Baron Wenlock (1784–1852).
Christie's London, 'Watercolours and Pictures of Birds', 30 September 1997, lot 20.
A life-size watercolour study of the greater coucal or crow pheasant (Centropus sinensis), a large member of the cuckoo family with a range spanning the Indian subcontinent and much of South-East Asia. The feathers have been rendered in minute detail, demonstrating the skill of the artist. The tail has been left unfinished, revealing a pencil underdrawing.
Studies of flora and fauna painted by Indian artists and commissioned by Europeans are called Company School, referring to the affiliation of a majority of patrons with the East India Company. The artists worked from life and might be granted access to local aviaries and menageries. There were two primary centres for Company School bird paintings: Lucknow and Calcutta. Works created in Calcutta, like the present example, tend to lack any background. The resultant watercolours served two purposes: they were both souvenirs which accompanied their owners back to England and important taxonomic studies, frequently documenting species as yet unknown to Europeans.
Another Calcutta School study of a Coucal, dated to ca. 1826 and painted in Calcutta, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (accession no. E. 1338-1927).
This study is numbered ‘418’ and inscribed in Persian ‘mahuk' [greater coucal].
Christie's London, 'Watercolours and Pictures of Birds', 30 September 1997, lot 20.
A life-size watercolour study of the greater coucal or crow pheasant (Centropus sinensis), a large member of the cuckoo family with a range spanning the Indian subcontinent and much of South-East Asia. The feathers have been rendered in minute detail, demonstrating the skill of the artist. The tail has been left unfinished, revealing a pencil underdrawing.
Studies of flora and fauna painted by Indian artists and commissioned by Europeans are called Company School, referring to the affiliation of a majority of patrons with the East India Company. The artists worked from life and might be granted access to local aviaries and menageries. There were two primary centres for Company School bird paintings: Lucknow and Calcutta. Works created in Calcutta, like the present example, tend to lack any background. The resultant watercolours served two purposes: they were both souvenirs which accompanied their owners back to England and important taxonomic studies, frequently documenting species as yet unknown to Europeans.
Another Calcutta School study of a Coucal, dated to ca. 1826 and painted in Calcutta, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (accession no. E. 1338-1927).
This study is numbered ‘418’ and inscribed in Persian ‘mahuk' [greater coucal].