Edward Lear, A black-spotted barbet, c.1830
Signed ‘E. Lear’ l.l., pencil, watercolour and bodycolour. 16 x 14cm, framed oval.
Provenance
The collection of Mr and Mrs Nigell D’Oyly.
Literature
Viven Noakes, ‘Edward Lear 1812-1888 at the Royal Academy of Arts’, 20 April-14 July 1985, illustrated p.80, plate 6a.
This watercolour study was from a group of bird drawings which Lear gave to Mrs Godfrey Wentworth as a token of gratitude in 1830. It is believed that she introduced him to the naturalist Prideaux Selby at the start of his career. It is likely that Lear undertook an informal apprenticeship with Selby, and the bold and lively approach demonstrated in Selby’s ornithological works has been skilfully developed in Lear’s later bird drawings.
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