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Description: | CRE WHISTLER, Beatrix; (English; 1857-1896) There are 30 studies of birds in the Hunterian collection, ranging from pencil sketches to finished oil paintings. Beatrix Whistler kept pet birds and designed bird cages for them (see GLAHA 46575-46579). In 1895, the collector Charles L. Freer sent Beatrix Whistler a songbird from India, which she loved. It joined a white parrot and mocking bird at the Whistlers' home in Paris, 110 rue du Bac. They and Beatrix are depicted in the drawing 'Beatrice Whistler looking at her birds' (M1398, AHA 46196).
Beatrix Whistler would work up drawings with sketchy strokes into finished designs, with expressive, flowing lines, for furniture panels or tiles. During the early 1880s, Beatrix's first husband E. W. Godwin (1833-1886), architect and designer, sold many designs illustrating the seasons and birds to tile manufacturers Minton, Hollins & Co., Belham & Co. and Wilcock & Co. It is likely that some of these designs were by Beatrix Whistler. Tile-sized drawings in the Hunterian with six-inch square borders were probably designs that were not sold for manufacture.
This is a sketch of a finch sleeping on a branch. The rough lines showing possible different positions of the bird, indicate that it was probably sketched from life. On the back is an incomplete photolithograph of two architectural drawings. This scrap of paper possibly came from the journal the 'British Architect'. Beatrix Whistler's first husband E. W. Godwin (1833-1886) was an architect and designer, indicating that this could have been drawn during their marriage, 1876-1886.
Birnie Philip Gift, 1935 - not lendable | License: | http://www.hmag.gla.ac.uk/spirit/rights/ | Publisher: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Rights holder: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Subjects: | ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN : APSE : BIRD : | Source: | Hunterian Museum | Creator: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Identifier: | http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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