John Halphead Smith, A duck in profile

A duck in profile, 1838

John Halphead Smith (1826 - 1896)

RA Collection: Art

This drawing is one of a set of twelve watercolours of ducks and geese. The group is part of the bequest of Gilbert Bakewell Stretton, the artist's grandson, and is accompanied by a letter stating that the drawings "are specimens or duplicates of a series painted by my grandfather John Homes Smith of Worcester from living and dead birds for T.C. Eyton (Author of A Monograph on the Anatidae or Duck Tribe London 1838). This gentleman intended at the time to publish an elaborate illustrated book on this branch of ornithology but I cannot discover that this was ever done."

Eyton's book was published but the illustrations, though very similar to this set, are by Edward Lear and other artists not J.H. Smith. It is possible, as Stretton suggests, that these drawings are merely specimens produced for the author's perusal or that they were for another of Eyton's book projects which never came to fruition. Eyton published an abridged version of the Duck Tribe and a number of other books on ornithology but Smith's illustrations do not feature in any of these publications.

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Object details

Title
A duck in profile
Artist/designer
John Halphead Smith (1826 - 1896)
Date
1838
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Watercolour on white wove paper
Dimensions

378 mm x 280 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
03/313
Acquisition
Bequeathed by Gilbert Bakewell Stretton 1949
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