Gijsbert Gillisz. de Hondecoeter (1604-1653)
A cockerel, hen, mallard drake and duck with their ducklings, c.1640
Oil on canvas
101 x 88cm
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Circle of Marmaduke Cradock (1660-1716)
A peacock and other ornamental birds and fowl in a country barnyard landscape, c.1730
Oil on canvas
66 x 81cm
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A peacock and other ornamental birds and fowl in a country barnyard landscape.
Provenance
Private Oxfordshire collection.
Marmaduke Cradock was a skilled painter of birds and animals, influenced by European artists such as Melchior d' Hondecoeter, Pieter Casteels and Jakob Bogdani. Cradock however preferred to paint species of birds native to the British Isles rather than the more exotic ones favoured by these artists. This genre of painting became highly popular in England from the 17th century onwards amongst the wealthy classes in the decoration of their grand country homes.
Horace Walpole wrote of Cradock 'I have seen some pieces by his hand which he painted with a freedom and a fire that entitles them to more distinction'. According to Walpole, Cradock deliberately shunned aristocratic patronage. 'He worked in general by the day, and for dealers who retailed his works; possessing that conscious dignity of talent which made him hate to be employed by men whose birth and fortune confined his fancy, and restrained his freedom'.
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Old master, British and European paintings and sculpture from the 16th To 19th century
