BY WILLIAM HAYES, DATED 1782

Details

A SET OF FOUR GEORGE III EMBOSSED BIRD PICTURES
BY WILLIAM HAYES, DATED 1782
Each bird depicted on a mossy branch, in gilded frames and with inscriptions on the reverse:
I. "Grillan Sparrow Earl of Sandwich Collection William Hayes 1782"
II. "American Grossbeak Earl of Sandwich Collection William Hayes 1782" III. "Brazilian find(?) Robt Child at Osterley W. Hayes"
IV. Green Parrot, with later inscription "Earl of Sandwich No. 76 W. Hayes 1782"
Three with label 'J. Leith, Carver and Gilder, Chapel Street, Soho'
Three 6¾ x 8¼ in. (17 x 21 cm.)
Four 6¾ x 8½ in. (17 x 22 cm.) (4)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The Brazilian finch (no. 3) formed part of the remarkable menagerie of exotic birds housed by Robert Child (d. 1782) at his aviary at Osterley, Middlesex, and painted in the 1770s for display in the aviary's parlour by the artist William Hayes (d.1802). Hayes later published them as Portraits of Rare and Curious Birds with their Descriptions. Accurately drawn and beautifully coloured from species in the Menagery [sic] of Child, the Banker at, Osterley Park, nr. London, 1794-1799. The other birds were published in Hayes' Portraits of British and Exotic Birds, London, 1771-1778 (see Sotheby's, 26 April 1982, lot 178).

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