McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
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H3A 0C9
Lion-tailed Macaque
Macaca silenus
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 Lion-tailed Macaque from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Southern India.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Scientific name: Macaca silenus
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: 3 Hamadryas
Cercop[i]thecus caudatus cinereus auribus comosis
unguibus acutiusculis, natibus calvis L.N.S [sic] p. 36.
Simia aegyptiaca clonata, clunibus tuberosis nudis
Hasselq. it. 189.
Simius cynocephalus ad utramq[ue] aurem magna
coma. Alp. aegypt. 248.
Habit[at] in Africa.
Corpus cinereum. Cauda longitudine vix corporis
aures longa coma utrinque dependente, galericuli in
modum. Nates calvae, sanguinolentae.
Dog faced Ape p. 107 n 72 Tab 14, 1
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: 3 Hamadryas
Cercop[i]thecus with an ash-coloured tail, long-haired ears,
slightly pointed nails, and a hairless rump. L.N.S [sic] p. 36.
Simia aegyptiaca clonata, with a bare, protuberant rump.
Hasselq. it. 189.
Simius cynocephalus [Dog-headed Simius] with long
hair near either ear. Alp. aegypt. 248.
It lives in Africa.
The body is ash-coloured. The tail is only just the length of the body; with long hair hanging around either ear, in the manner of a little cap. The rump is hairless, and blood-red.
Dog faced Ape p. 107 n 72 Tab 14, 1