Barrackpore, India, c. 1803
Watercolour on J Whatman paper
Provenance:
George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris, the 10th Viscount Valentia (1769-1844)Literature:
For other bird studies from Viscount Valentia’s collection see:
Hobhouse, N., Indian Paintings for British Patrons 1770-1860, London 1991, nos.11 & 12.
Leach, L.Y., Mughal and other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Volume II, London, 1995, no.7.96, pp.760-2.
Tillotson, Giles, Birds of India. New Delhi: DAG, 2021. Black Drongo, p.145.
Welch, S.C., Room for Wonder, Indian Painting during the British Period 1760-1880, New York, 1978, nos.18 a-c, pp.58-59.
Lord Valentia’s bird series contains a study of the unassuming Small Buttonquail. Primarily an inhabitant of mixed stretches of grasslands across India and Pakistan, it can be found as high as two thousand four hundred metres in the outer Himalayas.
A terrestrial bird of diminutive, rounded stature, it is commonly observed alone or in pairs, scuttling through scrubs in quiet pursuit of weed seeds, grain and minute insects. Shy and secretive, it favours concealment on the ground over the vulnerability of flight. With its proportionally larger feet, it scratches and stirs the loose earth, indulging in a dust bath in the undergrowth. Notably, the female Buttonquail is polyandrous, recognised by her staccato booming call often heard at dawn and dusk.
In this rendering, the bird pauses apprehensively at the bottom of the composition, its large feet spread, eye fixed on the observer. Adorned with an upper plumage of rich, earthy browns, its wing coverts delicately marked with black fringes, the Small Buttonquail blends seamlessly into its surroundings. Its breast reveals lighter chestnut shades spotted with black, skilfully rendered by the artist with great precision as the caramel breast feathers meld into the grey of the bird’s underbelly.
For another study of a Buttonquail, see the Yellow-legged Buttonquail from the Cunninghame Graham Album (see Birds of India, p.67).
Provenance
Collector's seal on verso in Persian: 'The Right Honourable Lord Bahadur Viscount Valentia, 1217 (1802-3)'.
Literature
For other examples of Viscount Valentia bird studies see:
Hobhouse, N., Indian Paintings for British Patrons 1770-1860, London 1991, nos.11 & 12, Leach, L.Y., Mughal and other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Volume II, London, 1995, no.7.96, pp.760-2,
Welch, S.C., Room for Wonder, Indian Painting during the British Period 1760-1880, New York, 1978, nos.18 a-c, pp.58-59,