Asian Art in London 2026: A Mystical Menagerie

Provenance:

Literature:

For other examples of 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,

Welch, S.C., Room for Wonder, Indian Painting during the British Period 1760-1880, New York, 1978, nos.18 a-c, pp.58-59,

For ornithological references to the species see:

Whistler, H., Popular Handbook of Indian Birds. Edition 4. Gurney and Jackson, London, 1949, pp. 158–159.

Robson, C., Birds of Southeast Asia. Princeton, 2005, p. 176.

The two largest sets of bird illustrations compiled in Calcutta during the colonial period, were commissioned by Marquess Wellesley, Governor General of Bengal (1798-1804) and Dr Francis Buchanan. Both sets now form part of the British Library collection of ornithological watercolours. Wellesley had begun to collect birds and animals for Fort William College in around 1800, which were subsequently moved to his country house north of Calcutta in Barrackpore. In 1804, Wellesley founded the 'Institute for Promoting the Natural History of India' with a menagerie and an aviary in Barrackpore, and he appointed Dr Buchanan as its first Superintendent.

Buchanan kept scientific records of all the birds and animals and employed a group of Indian artists for the drawings. These illustrations were executed in a scientific manner without including landscapes or shadows. Some of the artists employed by Buchanan had previously worked at the Sibpur Botanic Gardens in Calcutta for the Scottish botanist, Dr. William Roxburgh. Amongst these artists were Gurudayal, Vishnu Persaud, Haludar and Mahangu Lal. Their names are known from the inscriptions on some of the bird and animal paintings made for the Barrackpore Menagerie between 1804 and 1808 (Archer 1962, p.56). For further discussion on the Barrackpore Menagerie, see Archer, ibid., pp.29-33.

The present painting was formerly in the collection of George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris, the 10th Viscount Valentia (1769-1844). The Viscount made a tour of India in a private capacity between 1802 and 1806. He wrote an account of his travels, including a description of his visit to Barrackpore, in Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt in the Years 1802-06, which was published in three volumes in London in 1809. As a keen, amateur natural historian he met several botanists and zoologists working in India at the time, and he also visited Lord Wellesley in Calcutta in February 1803. Whilst in India, Lord Valentia collected natural history drawings himself, mostly of birds. He presented two of these drawings to Lord Wellesley which bear his personal Indian seal, 'The Right Honourable Lord Bahadur Viscount Valentia', which now form part of the British Library Collection, (Wellesley Collection, NHD 29, vol.iv, f.21,27).

The Ashy Drongo is depicted in streamlined grace, the viewer’s eye drawn in by its rich-crimson gaze, extending along velvet-black plumage to a sharply forked tail. An inhabitant of the open mountain forests of South and Southeast Asia, it sweeps through the air in pursuit of insects, while its diet extends to blossoms and, occasionally, small birds and lizards. Whistler documented the Ashy Drongo as “a magnificent flier, turning and twisting with extreme speed and skill, and it has the pugnacity of the family, hunting larger birds from the vicinity of its nest with great courage” (p.158). It has curiously been observed alighting upon sheep and buffalo as it forages, emitting a delightful twittering call and even mimicking other birds.

The present bird perches on a sturdy branch, a moment of dignified calm as it rests from the hunt. Its ebony appearance is likely indicative of the Longicaudatus Ashy Drongo, an Indian subspecies, distinct from the longer- tailed Black Drongo, as seen in the Cunninghame Graham Album (see Tillotson, Birds of India, p.145). Upon closer inspection, the plumage reveals an iridescent quality, shades of blue and purple dance on the outer feathers to lend a subtle luminosity to its otherwise sombre colouring. The artist masterfully enhances the dark plumage with delicate wisps of grey across the breast, echoed in sinuous pale tufts that draw the eye towards its penetrating ruby gaze. Finely striped whiskers frame the curve of its polished beak, as it sits in profile, inviting observation. The restrained palette and modulation of tone capture a moment of stillness, while accentuating the regal character of the Ashy Drongo as a creature of singular poise. In artistic terms the work is a celebration of fine detailing.

For additional ornithological studies made for Lord Valentia see Sotheby’s Sven Gahlin Collection Lots 36 a drawing of a bustard, and lot 37 a watercolour of a crow-pheasant, both made for Lord Valentia; Sotheby’s,London, 31 May 2011, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Part Two, lot 115; see also Welch 1976, no.26; Welch 1978-I, nos.18a-c.and Leach 1995, no.7.96, pp.760-2. For two bird studies donated by Viscount Valentia to Lord Wellesley see British Library, London (Wellesley Collection, NHD 29, vol.iv, f.21,27)