Barrackpore, India, c. 1803
Watercolour on paper
"
Provenance:
It is believed that the current 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 indecipherable stamp lower left matches that used for Viscount Valentia’s personal seal on other published works from Viscount Valentia’s collection.
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.
A pair of Sunbirds rest on a winding twig, depicted in profile as if in conversation with one another. Features of the lower bird are characteristic of a male Purple Sunbird with its breeding plumage, with deep hues of purple, blue and green, easily mistaken for black in poor lighting. Males revert to lighter eclipse plumage out of breeding season, like that of the female (see the study of the Purple Sunbird from the Faber Album, pictured in Birds of India, p.273). Inhabiting deciduous forests and gardens across India, the male can be observed atop high branches or telephone wires emitting his pleasantly high-pitched, chattering song.
The second of the pair is likely its mate, a female Purple Sunbird, with a lighter upper plumage of olive green and yellow tones hinted at the ear-coverts and fine supercilium, echoing the yellow of its underbelly, here turned out of view. Both male and female are rendered with their distinctively curved narrow beaks, suited to the extraction of nectar from native pollinating plants as well as their insectivorous habits.
Sunbirds most often fly in groups, yet here the artist isolates a pair, imbuing the composition with a quiet intimacy. Settled on a branch after flight, the two birds appear momentarily at rest together, their proximity evoking a subtle sense of companionship and attachment.
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 Lots 36 and 37; Sotheby’s, London, 31 May 2011, The Stuart Cary WelchCollection, Part Two, lot 115; and Sotheby’s 27 October 2021, lots 4 and 10.