Lot 142: John George Naish (1824-1905)

A dead seabird, Shanklin, Isle of Wight
signed with initials, inscribed and dated 'J.G.N. Shanklyn [sic] 1861' (lower left)
oil on canvas
20 7/8 x 30 in. (53 x 76.2 cm.)

with Leicester Galleries, London.

Naish is best known as a fairy painter, his most accomplished work being Elves and Fairies: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1856) which Christopher Wood calls 'one of the most brilliant Victorian fairy pictures involving flowers'. In about 1860 Naish began painting marine subjects set around the Devonshire and Cornish coasts, one of which, Ilfracombe, won a gold medal at Crystal Palace.

No other views of the Isle of Wight are recorded at this time. The bird's short wings mark it out as a member of the Diver species, perhaps a Guillemot, but it is hard to make a more specific identification.

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