The Bustard Cock [and] The Hen Bustard ... [Pair of ornithological watercolours signed, depicting a male and female Great Bustard]

London, 1746. Watercolour and gouache on laid paper, signed and dated within the images and with pen-and-ink inscriptions concerning the sizes of the birds. Sheet sizes: approx. 16 3/4 x 13 3/8 inches. Matted. A lovely pair of original watercolours by George Edwards.

"Through the influence of Sir Hans Sloane, [Edwards] was chosen Librarian to the Royal College of Physicians ... Almost immediately after he was appointed ... Edwards commenced the preparation of a series of coloured drawings of animals and birds, used later to illustrate [his Natural History of Uncommon Birds]; for these he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Society and subsequently elected a Fellow" (Lisney p.127). Edwards' would use these images within his Natural History of Uncommon Birds (part II, plates 73 and 74), with the background of Stonehenge as depicted on the present male Bustard as the background of the Hen Bustard. His description of the Hen Bustard makes special note of the difference in size between the male and female, and corresponds to the manuscript notations on the present watercolours. The watercolours were both drawn "from life" from specimens purchased in London in May 1746, "presented to me fresh and in fine order by Mr. Daniel Gwilt." The Great Bustard would become extinct in Great Britain in the 19th century. In 1760, Edwards sold his portfolio of watercolours used to illustrate his work, presumably including the present pair, to the Earl of Bute. Edwards "has been well described as an unscientific but very accurate describer and painter of animal life, and his writings will always remain of paramount authority, from the faithfulness of his description of many new birds, subsequently incorporated in the Linnaean System. He had, says Swainson, the simplicity and piety of Izaac Walton, and may be looked upon as one of our greatest worthies. He retired about 1764 to Plaistow, died July 23, 1773" (Mullens and Swann p.194).