WorkThis plate comes from the ‘T. C. Eyton Collection’, which Ruskin bought for the St George’s Museum.
The Eyton Collection contains almost 7000 hand coloured prints and watercolour illustrations of birds by John and Elizabeth Gould, but also John James Audubon and Edward Lear.
Illustrations of this kind were part of a lengthy production process. First, Gould researched and made preparatory drawings of the birds. Next, he made a watercolour drawing of each bird, either from life or from a stuffed bird. The watercolour would then be reproduced using lithography, a method in which the illustration is accurately re-drawn on stone and printed using greasy ink. The final step was the hand-colouring of each print, using watercolour paint.
ArtistJohn Gould was born in London; he had little education, and no formal art training, yet became famous for research and publication in ornithology. By the age of 21 he had become a taxidermist, working in London. At 24, he became curator of the museum of the Society of Zoology. While researching his books, Gould travelled to Australia and America.
By his death in 1881, Gould had published large-scale illustrated books about the birds of every continent except Antarctica.
Ruskin on BirdsRuskin bought the Eyton Collection because he valued its 'truthful' representation of birds and their habitats.
None of the illustrators in the Eyton collection had received formal art educations.
The watercolours and prints all demonstrate a high level of artistic skill, and, more importantly for Ruskin, a habit of exact observation and 'truth to nature'. He wished to inspire the same reverence for detail in visitors to the St George’s Museum.
Museum LibraryThe Museum had an extensive library. Its non-manuscript collections divide into these subject areas:
B. WORKS OF TRAVELI.
Early Voyages of DiscoveryII.
Ancient AtlasesC. NATURAL HISTORYI.
MineralogyII.
BotanyIII.
ZoologyD. THE FINE ARTSI.