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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Black Skimmer
General material designation
Parallel title
Black Skimmer
Other title information
Rynchops niger
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Caption title.
- Parallel titles and other title information: Title from Mousley: Rhynchops nigra
Level of description
Item
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG BW002-816
Edition area
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Statement of scale (cartographic)
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
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Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm + 1 leaf
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
(approximately 1720-approximately 1790)
Biographical history
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.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Drawing of a Black Skimmer from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: North America and South America.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
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General note
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Black Skimmer (Rhynchops nigra)
General note
Manuscript note on back of drawing: The Cut Water Rhynchops. Le bec en Ciseaux
General note
Scientific name: Rynchops niger
Accompanying material
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Accompanying material
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Aves Anseres Rynchops
- Nigra
Rynchops nigricans, subtus alba rostro
basi rubro. L.S.N. ed. 12. p. 226.
The greater Shear Water.
The Bird I described in the British musaeum 1771
The Beak. the Points Black the part of it
next the head of an Orange or dirty red. the
under mandible much the longest. the nostrils long
& oval. The forhead & all the under part of the
head Neck Back Quill Feathers & Tail are black
with a Blue Gloss The Tips of the Covert Feathers
& of ye Tail are White. The shoulders a dark
Brown. The Feet & Toes yellow the Back Toe
very small The Fore toes webb'd. The Claws black
hooked & sharp pointed.
No. 47
Accompanying material
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Aves Anseres Rynchops
- Nigra
Rynchops nigricans [The black...], with white underparts
and a beak that is red at the base. L.S.N. ed. 12. p. 226.
The greater Shear Water.
The Bird I described in the British musaeum 1771
The Beak. the Points Black the part of it
next the head of an Orange or dirty red. the
under mandible much the longest. the nostrils long
& oval. The forhead & all the under part of the
head Neck Back Quill Feathers & Tail are black
with a Blue Gloss The Tips of the Covert Feathers
& of ye [the] Tail are White. The shoulders a dark
Brown. The Feet & Toes yellow the Back Toe
very small The Fore toes webb[e]d. The Claws black
hooked & sharp pointed.
No. 47
Alternative identifier(s)
Volume number
Birds Volume 14, Painting 47
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- British Museum (Natural History) (Collector)