McGill Libraries
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
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 possible Fox from a 18th century specimen. Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on back of drawing: The Moosal from Turkey 18 inch high 2 foot long to the tail from the nose the tail is very short
Scientific name: Vulpes
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Mammalia Ferae Canis
Vulpes
Moosal.
Vulpes Cauda Abreviata [Abbreviata].
auribus pedibus q[ue] nigrescentibus
partibus ceteris fuscis.
Habitat in Turcomania
The Moosal
from Turkey.
height 1f. 6. length from the nose
to ye Tail 2 feet. the Tail very short.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Mammalia Ferae Canis
Vulpes
Moosal.
Vulpes with a short tail,
and black ears and feet;
all the other parts [of the body] are tawny.
It lives in Turkey.
The Moosal
from Turkey.
height 1f. 6. length from the nose
to [the] Tail 2 feet. The Tail very short.