A COMPLETE SET OF 12 GEORGE II IRISH EMBOSSED BIRD PICTURES by Samuel Dixon in basso relievo of the 1755 set of 'Foreign and Domestick Birds' in their original black and gilt-japanned frames, depicting:-

The Property of LADY OLIVIA WALDRON

Details

A COMPLETE SET OF 12 GEORGE II IRISH EMBOSSED BIRD PICTURES by Samuel Dixon in basso relievo of the 1755 set of 'Foreign and Domestick Birds' in their original black and gilt-japanned frames, depicting:-
A red and blue macaw, a grey-finch and a wax bill, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 4 no 4
A blue and yellow macaw, an Indian redstart and a sparrow of paradise, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 9
A Chaffinch perched upon a branch, with butterflies, convolvulus, snowdrops and other flowers, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 1
A goldfinch perched upon a branch, with a honeysuckle, rananculus, peonie and other flowers, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 5
A black-billed whistling duck, purple water-hen and corals, with pencil inscription to the backboard, no 8
An Indian bee-eater, a black and white Indian starling and a Brazilian finch, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 2
A summer duck, a Red-billed Whistling Duck and shells
A white-headed parrot with grapes and vine leaves
A canary bird and wasp among anemonies, polyanthus, hyacinths, tulips and jessomine, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 10
A cock butcher-bird above a floral still life of roses, poppies and rancunculuses with pencil inscription to the backboard no 7
A bullfinch, a blue titmouse and a red admiral, with peaches and apricots with pencil inscription to the backboard no 11
A green-winged dove perched on a stump, a cock and hen red-throated humming bird around a nest, with pencil inscription to the backboard no 6
Approximately 13 3/8in. x 17 3/8in. (34cm. x 44.2cm.) with minor differences up to 1/8in. (0.2cm.) (12)

Provenance

Possibly Catherine Taylor, later Countess of Antrim (d.1794) (see below)
The Earls of Bective and Marquesses of Headfort, Headfort, Kells, Co. Meath
By descent to Rose, Marchioness of Headfort, mother of the present owner
The original set were dedicated respectively to: The Countess of Carrick; Lady Castlecomer; The Countess of Meath; The Duchess of Dorset; The Countess of Antrim; The Countess of Howth; The Countess of Hillsborough; The Countess of Kildare; The Countess of Cork; The Duchess of Hamilton; The Dowager Countess of Kildare; Lady Molesworth

Lot Essay

Catherine, wife of James Taylor (d.1747) and aunt-by-marriage of the 1st Earl of Bective, married secondly in 1755 Alexander, 5th Earl of Antrim (d.1775). It was 'To the Countess of Antrim' that 'No 8' in this series was originally dedicated.
Samuel Dixon of Dublin was made famous by his sets of embossed bird and flower piectures issued between 1748 and 1755. These pictures incorporated a technique which Dixon called 'basso relievo' whereby parts of the design were raised by means of a copper plate and then coloured in gouache.
Dixon's first 'basso relievo' set of twelve formal flower arrangements was advertised in the 26 April 1748 'Faulkner's Dublin Journal'; this article invited the 'Nobility and Gentry' to purchase these pictures which were 'not only ornamental in Lady's chambers but useful to paint and draw after or imitate in shell or needle work'. These very popular 'Flower Pictures' encouraged Dixon to produce a 'Sett of curious Foreign Bird Pieces' advertised the following year. The designs for these pictures were taken directly from the first four volumes of George Edward's Natural History of Uncommon Birds, 1743-51, as were the descriptive labels on the back of each picture.
This 1755 set of 'Foreign and Domestick Birds', distinguishable by the larger dimensions, is framed in a previously unrecorded gilt-japanned design of Chinese pagodas and willow trees

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