HIGH FLYER

Of The Trailblazing

from Australasia and the South Seas, including a number of objects collected on Captain Cook’s celebrated second and third voyages.

But despite her lifelike depictions, unlike modern painters, Stone had never seen any living examples of the birds she painted. e creatures’ expressions and poses all came from the work of taxidermists – who, like her, were preserving specimens brought to European shores.

Female pioneer

Stone was a woman operating in a world where commercial success was usually denied to females.

e achievements of women – in elds other than the domestic – went largely disregarded and even entirely dismissed. Although many women of the era were talented watercolour painters, their e orts were usually con ned to albums or, at best, allowed to decorate the walls of friends or family.

Few enjoyed any degree of commercial success or widespread admiration. e odds were stacked against women no matter how considerable their talents were.

Stone was one of the exceptions. Determined, highly skilled and with a clear vision of what she hoped to achieve, she enjoyed success from an early age.

ere is no record of her birth although a younger sister was born in London. She was the daughter of a fan painter from whom she learnt the technical aspects of painting, including how to prepare materials, make brushes and mix paint. Decorating fans would have required precision and delicate skills and it seems likely that from an early age Sarah was assisting in the work.

Indeed, there is no record that Stone received any kind of formal artistic training other than the guidance she received at her father’s knee.

Ru Ing Feathers

While the name Sarah Stone may be known to few, other than dedicated followers of ornithological art, she was an esteemed British natural history painter and probably the rst English woman painter of animals to achieve professional recognition.

Like many other natural history artists working in the early 19th century, Stone took her inspiration from the newly-discovered (and vibrantly-coloured) creatures descending on western shores as the result of exploratory voyages to far ung corners of the globe. It was an exciting period. Zoological, botanical and ethnographical objects were being brought back to the West for the rst time, and Sarah Stone was one of the rst artists to paint objects

Above Sarah Stone (c. 1760-1844) a yellowheaded amazon and salmon-crested cockatoo, signed ‘Sarah Smith’ (née Stone) and dated 1801. All images, unless otherwise stated, courtesy of Finch & Co.

Right Sarah Stone (c. 1760-1844) a peacock pheasant, signed ‘S Smith’ at the bottom of the image

Leverian Museum

By the age of17 she was con dent enough to approach Sir Ashton Lever (1729-1788) a businessman and collector, friend of Captain James Cook and known to have agreat interest in ornithology. Lever was also resposible for assembling one of the major natural history collections of the late 18th century (some 27,000 objects) and, in 1775, putting it on public display,at his museum, the Holosphusikon in Leicester Square, London, later known as the Leverian Museum.

Lever was clearly impressed by the quality of the teenager’s work and commissioned her to record his collection, kickstarting a successful working relationship which lasted for years, with Stone attending the collection almost every day. Stone soon became a specialist in accurate images of birds, mammals, sh, insects, sea shells, fossils, minerals and ethnographic material. With the new museum attracting bumper crowds, Stone celebratedartist .

Meeting of minds

1789, aged almost 30, she married Captain John Langdale Smith himself an amateur artist who recognised his wife’s talent and, unusually for the time,encouraged her career In 1791, two years after their wedding, they were exhibiting together at exhibitions in London.

Stone also went on to illustrate John White’s Journalof a Voyage to New South Wales, published in 1790. Four years prior White had been appointed as chief surgeonon the expedition to establish a convict settlement in

Left Sarah Stone (c. 1760-1844) Demoiselle crane. Signed ‘Sarah Smith’ at the bottom of the image, with a black border

Right John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912) male and female Huia Heteralocha acutirostris

Below right Sarah Stone (c. 1760-1844) partridge. Signed ‘Mrs Smith, Smith Square, West London and J. , Mattias’ on a painted trompe l’œil label

The natural world

If we ignore prehistoric art and the art of antiquity, until the middle of the 15th century western art was dominated by religion with little place for anything other than visual expressions of religious faith. The Renaissance saw an increase in monumental secular works with new genres coming into vogue: portraiture, landscape, still life and the depiction of the natural world. Among the first great exponents of the latter was the German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer (14711528) who painted celebrated images of beetles, birds, hares a his famous painting of a humble patch of vegetation known as The Great Piece of Turf

While the popularity of producing images of nature continued into the 18th century, with artists such as the French artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), it wasn’t until the 19th century with John James Audubon (1785-1851) in North America and the English ornithologist and painter John Gould (1804-1881) that the genre was brought to public acclaim. In Europe the style was championed by the Dutch bird illustrator Johannes Gerardus Keulemans (1842- 1912).

Stone At Auction

In 2022, a total of 18 watercolours by Sarah Stone sold for £172,000, almost 12 times their top estimate at Mallams auctioneers in Oxford. The high price achieved perhaps reflecting the growing market interest in works by female artists.

They came from the estate of Patrick DockarDrysdale (1929-2020), who was a distant relative of Stone. Some of the works had come down through the family, while others had been bought from auctions over the last 30 years, including natural history sales at Sotheby’s.

The lots, made up of 15 watercolours alongside three groups of sketches, represented one of the largest collections of Stone’s work owned by a private individual.

As well as being rare, market-fresh and with excellent provenance, the group also benefited from being in a good general condition, although one of the watercolours had suffered from some staining over the years.

Stone’s works are currently held by several prominent institutions around the world including The British Museum, the Victoria Gallery and Museum at the University of Liverpool, the National Library of Australia, the State Library of New South Wales and the Australian Museum.

Above left Sarah Stone (c.1760-1844) a quantity of mainly ornithological sketches. Estimated to make £500-£1,000, they sold for £11,500 in 2022, image courtesy of Mallams

Above Sarah Stone, an engraving after a portrait by the miniaturist Samuel Shelley (1750/56–1808)

Above right Sarah Stone (c. 1760-1844) unidenti ed parakeets. Signed ‘S. Smith’ on the branch at the bottom of the image

Below left Sarah Stone (c. 1760-1844) golden eagle, with common bronze wing. Signed ‘Sarah Smith 1806’ at the bottom of the image

Australia, later known as the First Fleet, arriving at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson on January 26, 1788, a date still marked as Australia Day. Stone’s work appears regularly in Antipodean museums.

Lasting legacy

Stone had unrestricted access to objects that had never been seen before, and in many cases items that would only exist for a comparatively short space of time. Although she may not have realised it at the time, her detailed images were to acquire a historical and scienti c importance out of all proportion to their loveliness. Her work has become a visual record of signi cant historical specimens, many of which no longer exist, and some of which even vanished during her lifetime.

Stone’s lifelong output is extraordinary. She painted on most days of her comparatively long life and many of her pictures have survived due to their acquisition by museums around the world. She died in 1844 of pneumonia, with her age at the time of death given variously as either 82 or 83.

As part of London Art Week (LAW), Finch & Co. will be exhibiting a private collection of 23 works by Stone from June 27 to July 9 at its Cromwell Place gallery with an accompanying book. For more details on LAW turn to page 57.

Birds of America

This summer also sees the start of National Museums Scotland’s touring exhibition of works by the pioneering and controversial natural history painter John James Audubon (1785–1851).

Birds of America, on at Compton Verney in Warwickshire from July 1 to October 1, showcases 46 plates from one of the world’s most famous – and at almost one-metre in height –largest books. And with only 120 complete copies known to be in existence, it is also one of the rarest books in the world.

When it was first published as a series between 1827 and 1838, Birds of America was instantly recognised as a landmark work of ornithological illustration. It achieved international renown, not only due to the epic scale of Audubon’s ambition (to paint every bird species in North America) but also the length of time it took to complete (almost 12 years) as well as its spectacular, life-sized illustrations.

But while celebrated as a renowned American adventurer and naturalist, successful in identifying more than 20 new bird species, Audubon’s life was full of contradiction and controversy.

He profited from the ownership of enslaved people and showed disdain towards the abolitionist movement both damning character traits which have been overlooked until recently.

His scientific standing is also disputed, with Audubon today accused of completely fabricating several species and misidentifying others.

Right

Below

French background

John James Audubon was born in Les Cayes, in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), on April 26, 1785, being the illegitimate son of a chambermaid and a French sea captain.

He was brought up in France and received instruction in drawing from Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) before moving to America in 1803 to avoid conscription in Napoleon’s army. In the US he lived as a naturalist, hunter and taxidermist, earning money as a portraitist and drawing master.

Audubon’s interests in art and ornithology came together when he forged a plan to complete a pictorial record of every bird species in North America.

Unable to find a publisher in America, Audubon spent three years in England, from 1826 to 1829, eventually persuading the London engraver and publisher, Robert Havell and Son, to take it on.

The Birds of America, from Original Drawings, with 435 Plates Showing 1,065 Figures appeared in four volumes of hand-tinted aquatints (1827–1838) and now ranks among the most famous and prized books of the world.