Natural history

Image 26 of 508
  previous page next page

"Bird of Port Jackson"

Artist: Raper, George
Created: [1789]
Dimensions: 45.5 x 32.8 cm
Reference: Raper Drawing - no. 39

 

hide detailed image description

Drawing of a bird in left profile perched on a tree stump against a plain background, with a detail of a flowering plant to the left. The bird's head and bill are painted with a black wash, and it has a knob at the base of the upper mandible and a brown 'brush' tongue. The bird is otherwise grey overlaid with darker hatched lines, except for the feathers of the throat and upper breast which are white and individually detailed. The tree stump is pale brown, overlaid with grey-green stippled marks and grey and brown brush marks, shaded to the left. The plant detail to the left has narrow, linear green leaves arranged in whorls of three on a brown stem, with terminal clusters of red, upright and tubular red flowers. The drawing is framed with a thick black ink line and a triple-banded border, the central band of which is coloured with a pink wash and contains the title, signature and date. Most of the outer band appears to have been lost through the drawing having been cropped.

 

show notes