McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Banded Mongoose
Banded Mongoose
Mungos mungo
Item
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm
Peter Paillou was born in London into a Huguenot family and was recognised in his own time as an eminent ‘bird painter’. In 1744 he began to paint for Taylor White and worked for him for almost thirty years, painting chiefly birds and mammals. He painted as well for Robert More, Joseph Banks, and for the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. Many of his paintings of birds were used as the basis for book illustrations, often engraved by his colleague and fellow Huguenot, Peter Mazell. Paillou was elected to the Society of Artists and in 1763 he exhibited ‘A Piece of Birds, in Watercolours; the Hen of the Wood and Cock of the Red Game’. In 1778, to considerable approval, he also showed a picture of ‘A Horned Owl from Peru’, completely made from feathers.
Drawing of a Banded Mongoose from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Scientific name: Mungos mungo
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Mammalia Ferae Viverra
Ichneumon.
Mustela Glauca
amen acad p.109
Mustela Viverra indis Mangutia Kaempf. amoen.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Mammalia Ferae Viverra
Ichneumon.
Mustela Glauca [The grey weasel]
amen acad p. 109
Mustela Viverra indis Mangutia Kempf. amoen.