Birds print

Date1736

Publisher Charles Collins & John Lee

Engraver Henry Fletcher

Artist Charles Collins

OriginEngland, London

MediumBlack and white line engraving

DimensionsOverall: 17 1/2 x 21 7/8 inches; Plate marks: 15 5/8 x 19 1/4 inches

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1976-97,1

DescriptionBirds PRINT; black-and-white line engraving. Sets of birds in trees with decorative landscape background. Birds on this plate: 1. The Cock Sky Lark. 2. The hen Beam-bird. 3. The hen white Wagtail. 4. The hen black Cap. 5. The Cock Nightingale. 6. The hen Nightingale. 7. The Cock house Martin. 8. The hen house Martin. 9. The Cock marsh Titmouse. 10. The hen Titlark. 11. The hen Grasshopper Lark.
Label TextAppreciated for their beauty and melodic song, birds were valued as pets and were kept indoors in decorative cages during the 18th century. They were taught to sing popular songs of the day. Surviving books explain how instruments like the serinette, a small organ instrument, or small flutes were used to teach birds to mimic a specific pitch. An organ similar to this one was recorded in Governor Dunmore’s losses when he left Virginia in 1765, and it is known that his predecessor, Lord Botetourt, had up to twelve birdcages during his tenure in the Palace.