Barrackpore, North India,
Watercolour on paper
c. 1803
Provenance:
It is highly likely that the work was commissioned by George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris and Viscount Valentia (1769-1844), during his visit to Calcutta in 1803. The ink used on a small istamp on the reverse exactly matches that used for Viscount Valentia’s personal seal on other published works from the collection.
Literature
Edwards, George. A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. 1743.
Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 1999. Emerald Dove, p.452.
The Emerald Dove is a testament to the art of concealment in the natural world, existing only in flashes of green between the trees. A resident of the Himalayan forests, it nests among trees and shrubs, quietly foraging along the forest floor for seeds and fallen fruits. Swift and elusive in flight, it darts away at the slightest disturbance, often revealing its presence only through a melancholic cooing call.
“I think it the most beautiful of all the dove-kind I have hitherto seen”- George Edwards, 1743.
The eighteenth-century English naturalist George Edwards wrote of this “Green Wing’d Dove” in A Natural History of Uncommon Birds (1743). Captivated by its iridescent plumage, he evocatively noted “splashes of Copper [and] Gold” shimmering across the bird’s wings in flight.
This study shows an adult male, identified by the sophisticated grey of his crown, white feathers marking the forehead and supercilium. The artist has captured each hue of the plumage with exceptional care, the back and wings a luminous green, offset by a humble yet refined shade of chestnut brown at the breast. Although his stature is stout, the remarkable emerald gleam of his coat lends this bird a natural beauty, exuding elegance while echoing the verdant tones of the tree canopy.
For additional ornithological studies made for Lord Valentia, see Sotheby’s 11 December 1968, lot 80; Sotheby’s 2 December 1972, lots 4 and 6; Sotheby’s 10 April 1989, lots 5-21; Sotheby’s 28 October 1991, lot 11; Sotheby’s Sven Gahlin Collection Lot 36 and Lot 37; Sotheby’s, London, 31 May 2011, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Part Two, lot 115; and Sotheby’s 27 October 2021, lots 4 and lot 10.