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Mark Catesby (1682-1749)

The Humming-Bird and the Trumpet-Flower c.1722-6

Watercolour and bodycolour, over brush and ink and pencil | 37.0 x 26.4 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 925900

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  • A watercolour of a rubythroated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris (Linnaeus)) with trumpetcreeper (Campsis radicans (L.) Seem. ex Bureau). The drawing shows a tiny bird with a long beak, head facing upwards, body profile left, drinking from a flower. The flowers are bright orange and trumpet-like, the bird has green/black feathers and an orange throat and white breast. 

    Mark Catesby was born in Suffolk and was interested in natural history from an early age. In 1712, he travelled to the east coast of America with his sister Elizabeth, who had married a doctor who practised in Williamsburg, Virginia. Catesby spent seven years in Virginia collecting specimens and seeds for London buyers before returning to Britain. In London his drawings of birds and plants met with praise and a group of benefactors paid for his travel to Carolina in 1722. There, he made numerous drawings of the flora and fauna, working hard to ensure that his depictions were as helpful for an understanding of their subjects as possible. On his return to Britain, his drawings were reproduced in The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which appeared in a series of volumes between 1729 and 1747. The first volume was dedicated to Queen Caroline, the second to Augusta, Princess of Wales. The original drawings from the volumes, which had been in the possession of Catesby’s widow until her death, were purchased by George III from the London bookseller Thomas Cadell in 1768.

    The watercolour was used as the basis for plate 65 in the first volume of the Natural History ('The Humming-Bird' and 'The Trumpet-Flower').

    For identification of the species depicted see James L. Reveal, 'Identification of the plants and animals illustrated by Mark Catesby for his Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands' in Phytoneuron 2013 and revised online version.


     

    Provenance

    Thomas Cadell; from whom bought by George III, 1768

  • Medium and techniques

    Watercolour and bodycolour, over brush and ink and pencil

    Measurements

    37.0 x 26.4 cm (sheet of paper)

  • Other number(s)
    Alternative title(s)

    Mellivora Avis Carolinensis; Bignonia, Fraxini foliis, coccineo flore minore


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