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Lot Essay
The present watercolour is almost certainly the first-ever coloured depiction of one of the world's most spectactular pigeons, the Seychelles Blue Pigeon.
The first published description of this bird was in 1776 by P. Sonnerat in his Voyage la Nouvelle Guine, Paris, p. 112, pl. 67. He called the bird 'Le pigeon violet tte rouge d'Antigue' and Scopoli in 1786, using Sonnerat's text, published its first scientific name Columba pulcherrima. Later authors realised that Sonnerat had made an error in stating that this bird was from Antigua, Island of Panay, Philippines, because the species, in fact, occurs only in the Seychelles.
Sonnerat's plate is uncoloured, and this drawing by T. Le Clerc, dated 1788, is probably the first to show the extraordinary colours of this spectacular bird; the startling crimson forehead and crown and the marked contrast between the deep blackish blue of the lower body and bluish-white of the upper body. There is little doubt that the painter faithfully followed Sonnerat's description, for Sonnerat did not include the scarlet wart-like caruncles ('like scarlet walnut') above and at the base of the beak, which are now known to be so characteristic of the species, and which are absent from the painting. In only one respect is the painting different from Sonnerat's description and that is in the colour of the bird's legs which have been painted pink rather that grey.
We are grateful to Peter Olney for his help in cataloguing the present watercolour.
The first published description of this bird was in 1776 by P. Sonnerat in his Voyage la Nouvelle Guine, Paris, p. 112, pl. 67. He called the bird 'Le pigeon violet tte rouge d'Antigue' and Scopoli in 1786, using Sonnerat's text, published its first scientific name Columba pulcherrima. Later authors realised that Sonnerat had made an error in stating that this bird was from Antigua, Island of Panay, Philippines, because the species, in fact, occurs only in the Seychelles.
Sonnerat's plate is uncoloured, and this drawing by T. Le Clerc, dated 1788, is probably the first to show the extraordinary colours of this spectacular bird; the startling crimson forehead and crown and the marked contrast between the deep blackish blue of the lower body and bluish-white of the upper body. There is little doubt that the painter faithfully followed Sonnerat's description, for Sonnerat did not include the scarlet wart-like caruncles ('like scarlet walnut') above and at the base of the beak, which are now known to be so characteristic of the species, and which are absent from the painting. In only one respect is the painting different from Sonnerat's description and that is in the colour of the bird's legs which have been painted pink rather that grey.
We are grateful to Peter Olney for his help in cataloguing the present watercolour.