FDA-D.136-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.136-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Ptarmigan in Mid Plumage
Pilkington
Pilkington
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
collection
collection
Comments
Little is known of the English (or possibly Irish) artist Charles Collins's background, but his work has been described as 'superior to the bird painting of his contemporary George Edwards'. His confident handling of oils and watercolours may be attributed to contact with the Fleming Peter Casteels (1684-1749) and Casteels's brother-in-law Peter Tillemans (c.1684-1734). Casteels and Tillemans came to London in the company of a picture dealer in 1708. Casteels is best known for his oils of animals and birds, but he was also a teacher and became a Director of Kneller's Academy in 1711. Tillemans worked in oils and on paper and is regarded as one of the fathers of British watercolour painting In 1726 Casteels published 'Icones Avium', a set of twelve prints of birds etched after his own designs. A decade later Charles Collins, who was based in London, produced his own elegant set of twelve oils of British birds in naturalistic landscape settings which were then engraved as 'Icones Avium cum nominibus anglicis (folio plates without text, engraved by James Mynde and Henry Fletcher). Nine of Collins's original oils are at Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire; three were sold at Christies's on 11 June 2002. In this series, the birds are arranged in complex groupings, some in flight, others perched, pecking at the ground or wading in water. Collins's general proficiency in oil painting and his eye for composition are well-illustratd by his 'Lobster on a Delft Dish' of 1738, now in the Tate.
Collins also produced a large number of watercolours, mainly of birds, and often at life size, as here. His most ambitious project was to draw birds for the naturalist Taylor White (1701-1772) of Wallingwell, Nottinghamshire. Now in the Blacker-Wood Library in Montreal, White's collection of 659 bird drawings are by Collins and Peter Paillou, the latter artist having apparently taken over the project on Collins's death in 1744. At least 200 hundred of the Taylor White drawings are signed by Collins. The artist also seems to have been working on a series of game birds, perhaps intended for publication, in the years before his death. The Eton 'Ptarmigan', and other works that have appeared on the market, belong to this series. A 'Grouse', of the same size as the Eton watercolour, and dating from March 1741, was sold at Sotheby's on 14 November 1991; a 'Pair of Grouse', again of the same size and dated May 1742, was sold in the same rooms on 14 November 1981.
Collins was 'bird painter to the Royal Society'.
Until 1926, Collins was virtually unknown, except as the draughtsman of a series of twelve prints of groups of birds, published in 1736, of which a hand-coloured copy existst in the British Library. Then in June 1926 Sotheby's sold the collection of Taylor White, F.R.S., including sixteen volumes containing 659 drawings of song and game birds by Collins and the French artist Peter Paillou, as well as volumes of exotic flora and fauna. These drawings bear dates between 1736 and 1742, that is, after the appearance of the prints. They were presumably made in conjunction with another publication project which came to nothing, scuppered, perhaps, by George Edwards's Natural History of Birds, published between 1743 and 1751. This became the major source of reference on British birds in the middle years of the eighteenth century.
Collins' paintings were more clinical than Edwards', lacking his landscape backgrounds and suggestion of habitat. Their rich colouration and minute attention to details of plumage make them nonetheless one of the great achievements of British natural history illustration.
Collins also produced a large number of watercolours, mainly of birds, and often at life size, as here. His most ambitious project was to draw birds for the naturalist Taylor White (1701-1772) of Wallingwell, Nottinghamshire. Now in the Blacker-Wood Library in Montreal, White's collection of 659 bird drawings are by Collins and Peter Paillou, the latter artist having apparently taken over the project on Collins's death in 1744. At least 200 hundred of the Taylor White drawings are signed by Collins. The artist also seems to have been working on a series of game birds, perhaps intended for publication, in the years before his death. The Eton 'Ptarmigan', and other works that have appeared on the market, belong to this series. A 'Grouse', of the same size as the Eton watercolour, and dating from March 1741, was sold at Sotheby's on 14 November 1991; a 'Pair of Grouse', again of the same size and dated May 1742, was sold in the same rooms on 14 November 1981.
Collins was 'bird painter to the Royal Society'.
Until 1926, Collins was virtually unknown, except as the draughtsman of a series of twelve prints of groups of birds, published in 1736, of which a hand-coloured copy existst in the British Library. Then in June 1926 Sotheby's sold the collection of Taylor White, F.R.S., including sixteen volumes containing 659 drawings of song and game birds by Collins and the French artist Peter Paillou, as well as volumes of exotic flora and fauna. These drawings bear dates between 1736 and 1742, that is, after the appearance of the prints. They were presumably made in conjunction with another publication project which came to nothing, scuppered, perhaps, by George Edwards's Natural History of Birds, published between 1743 and 1751. This became the major source of reference on British birds in the middle years of the eighteenth century.
Collins' paintings were more clinical than Edwards', lacking his landscape backgrounds and suggestion of habitat. Their rich colouration and minute attention to details of plumage make them nonetheless one of the great achievements of British natural history illustration.
Other number
Pi 236
Description
Dimensions
height: 545mm
width: 380mm
width: 380mm
Inscription
Signed and dated, lower left: 'Chs. Collins. Fecit 1741'
Materials & techniques note
Watercolour and bodycolour, with gum arabic
Production
Person
Collins, Charles, c. 1680 - 1744 (Artist)
Date
1741
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of Alan Pilkington; by whom presented/bequeathed to Eton College
Exhibited: 'Hidden Treasures', 3 March to 31 March 2010; 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 27; 'Humphrey Ocean: Fresh as Paint', The Verey Gallery, Eton College, 9 June to 30 October 2022, catalogue number 22
Exhibited: 'Hidden Treasures', 3 March to 31 March 2010; 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 27; 'Humphrey Ocean: Fresh as Paint', The Verey Gallery, Eton College, 9 June to 30 October 2022, catalogue number 22
Previous ownership
Pilkington, Alan, 1879 - 1973: Bequeathed to Eton by Alan Pilkington, 1973
References
• Ryan, H., Hidden Treasures, W.S. Fine Art exhibition catalogue, 2010 (p. 12-13, no. 1)
• Wilcox, T., A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, Christie's exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 35, no. 27)
• Wilcox, T., A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, Christie's exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 35, no. 27)
