McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Common Jackal
Canis aureus
Item
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm + 1 leaf
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 Common Jackal from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Europe, Africa, and Asia.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on back of drawing: No. 6 Lupus canis, cauda pensile magna nigrescente, dorso etiam nigrescente pilis albis interstincto & a latere linea nigra horizontale finito, ventre griseo femoribus & cruribus externe luteis interne albicantibus.
Scientific name: Canis aureus
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Lupus
canis, cauda pensile magna
nigrescente, dorso etiam nigrescente
pilis albis interstincto & a latere
linea nigra horizontale finito,
ventre griseo femoribus & cruribus
externe luteis interne albicantibus.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Lupus
canis, with a large black hanging tail,
and also a black back variegated with white hair
and demarcated on the side
with a black horizontal line;
with a grey stomach, and thighs and legs
that are yellow on the outside and white on the inside.