Jakob Bogdány

Private collection, Scotland;

By whom sold ('The Property of a Scottish Nobleman'), London, Sotheby's, 9 December 1992, lot 143;

Where acquired by the present owner.

Following his time in Amsterdam between 1684 and 1686, where he would have encountered the works of Melchior d’Hondecoeter (1636–1695), Bogdány settled in London, where his vivid still life and bird paintings were coveted by the aristocracy. Queen Mary and Queen Anne were among his clientele, and it was through Queen Anne that Bogdány met Admiral George Churchill (1654–1710), the younger brother of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722). Churchill had an aviary full of unusual birds at Windsor, which perhaps inspired Bogdány's fascination with accurately depicting these animals, as demonstrated in this painting. Partridges, muskovy ducks, and a juvenile herring gull, among other birds, can all be identified.