The Peacock "At Home": PD.120-1973.f.15

Materials used in production

Watercolour
Bodycolour
Gold paint
White bodycolour
Graphite
Gum arabic

Components of the work

Support composed of wove paper
Leaf Height 526 mm Width 366 mm

Techniques used in production

Watercolour : Watercolour with gum Arabic, gold, bodycolour including white over traces of graphite on wove paper

Inscription or legends present

• Text: Wav'd high his blue neck, and his train he display'd, / Embroidere'd with gold, and with em'ralds inlaid. / Then with all the gay troop to the Shrubb'ry repair'd, / Where the musical birds had a concert prepar'd: / A holly bush form'd the orchestra, and in it / Sat the Blackbird, the Thrush, the Lark, and the Linnet: / A Bull finch, a captive! almost from the nest, / Now escap'd from his cage, and, with liberty blest, / In a sweet mellow tone, join'd the lessons of art / With the accents of nature, which flow'd from his heart, / The Canary, a much admir'd foreign musician, / Condescended to sing to the fowls of condition.
• Location: Recto
• Method of creation: Brown ink

Identification numbers

Accession number: PD.120-1973.f.15
Primary reference Number: 80505
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 3 August 2020 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints