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John Doncaster (1907-1981)
Drawing overview
Archaeopteryx
The John Doncaster Drawings Collection
Exhibition and publication details
References and further reading
John Doncaster (1907-1981)
John Priestman Doncaster (1907-1981) was an excellent draughtsman,
a meticulous artist, and technically inventive. Doncaster
studied zoology at Cambridge University, and following graduation
he engaged in research on the transmission of plant diseases
by aphids at the Potato Virus Station, Cambridge. In 1934,
he joined the Natural History Museum where he worked as the
Director's Assistant on the Central and North Hall displays.
He was appointed the Museum's first Exhibition Officer in
1937.
During World War II, he was seconded to carry out agricultural
research. On his return to the Museum in 1946, he was responsible
for the rehabilitation of the war-damaged galleries. This
included the Bird Gallery and an exhibition in the Central
Hall that featured a display case for each of the five scientific
departments of the Museum.
The Bird Gallery was the Museum's contribution to the Festival
of Britain in 1951. The gallery included new specimens, set
in their natural landscapes and displays featuring the biology
of birds, such as origin of flight. Doncaster was not only
responsible for the design but also exercised his artistic
talent in painting several pictures to illustrate the gallery,
including the Archaeopteryx , which illustrated the
conquest of the air by birds.
In 1951, he moved to the Department of Entomology where he
worked mainly on Homoptera or plant lice, becoming Deputy
Keeper in 1955, and finally Keeper (Head of Department) in
1960.
Drawing overview
Doncaster's drawing of the Archaeopteryx is an extraordinary
combination of scientific expertise and artistic talent. To
this drawing he brought his skills as a scientific illustrator
combined with an ability to interpret the biology and natural
behaviour of this fossil bird. He has accurately depicted
the Archaeopteryx in its natural habitat and has brought
life and interest to his composition.
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Archaeopteryx
About 150 million years ago at the end of the Jurassic period,
warm shallow seas studded with islands covered the area which
is now southern Germany. Reefs formed, dividing the sea into
isolated lagoons. This caused the salt levels to rise in the
lagoons and the marine and land organisms which fell into
their stagnant waters died. They were well preserved, however,
as they were not eaten by scavengers, or spoilt by water currents.
Over thousands of years, the mud that had formed turned into
fine-grained limestone. This was later quarried for roof and
floor tiles, and also used in the printing process known as
lithography.
The finest specimen of Archaeopteryx lithographica
was found in 1861 in a quarry in Solnhofen in Bavaria, southern
Germany. A lithographic limestone slab was split in two, exposing
a fossil that had teeth and claws like a reptile and feathers
like a bird. In the same year the geologist Herman von Meyer
of Frankfurt announced its discovery to a stunned and amazed
world. The specimen was acquired by Karl Haberlein, a local
physician and amateur fossil collector, who sold it to the
Natural History Museum for £700.
Richard Owen, the Superintendent of Natural History at the
Museum, wrote the first scientific description of the Archaeopteryx
in 1863. He declared it to be an 'ancient, long-tailed bird',
hoping to prevent any ideas that it was a 'missing link' between
birds and dinosaurs. Owen was not a supporter of Charles Darwin's
theory of evolution that had been published just a few years
earlier. It was Thomas Huxley, who in 1868, by comparing pelvic
bones, showed that birds and dinosaurs could indeed have a
common ancestor.
Many scientists have tried to speculate exactly where the
Archaeopteryx fits in between fossil reptiles and living
birds. The accepted theory is that while Archaeopteryx
is not the 'missing link', it was the first sign of evolutionary
change.
Archaeopteryx is the single most valuable specimen
in the Museum's collection.
The John Doncaster Drawings Collection
This drawing is the only example of original artwork by John
Doncaster held by the Natural History Museum.
Exhibition and publication details
This drawing was exhibited as part of the permanent exhibition
in the Bird Gallery that opened in the Museum in 1951.
References and further reading
De Beer, G. R. (1954) Archaeopteryx lithographica: A Study
Based Upon the British Museum Specimen. British Museum
(Natural History): London. 68pp.
Owen, R. (1863) On the Archaeopteryx of Von Meyer, with
a Description of the Fossil Remains of a Long Tailed Species,
from the Lithographic Stone of Solenhofen. Royal Society
of London: London. 15pp.
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