18th Century Material Culture

The Pet Bird

Pet Birds
 Mthilde de Canisy
by Jean - Marc Nattier, Portraitist for the Family of King Louis XV 1738
(Jacquemart - Andre Museum - Institut de France)
 “Thrice happy Bird...”
by Thomas Burford, After Alexis Grimou 1740
(The British Museum)
 John Gerry of Massachusetts
by Joseph Badger 1745
(Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)
 Sir Edward Walpole's Children
by Stephen Slaughter 1747
(The Minneapolis Institute of Arts)
John Creswell of Northumberland Holding a Yellow Bird
English School Mid 18th Century
(NorthEast Auctions)
 A Young Lady Holding a Bird
by Phillipe Mercier c. 1750 - 1755
(Government Art Collection - English Embassy, Seoul, South Korea)
 A Young Lady Holding a Bird
by Phillipe Mercier Mid 18th Century
(Dumfries Museum)
A Young Man Holding a Bird
Mid 18th Century
(Comer & Co.)
 Le Repos
by Jean - François Colson, Dijon 1759
(Musée des Beaux-Arts)
 Miss Jane Monck
by Joseph Wright of Derby c. 1760
(Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle)
Marie-Louise de Bourbon (1745 - 1792) with Her Pet Bird
by Tiepolo Lorenzo c. 1763
(Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais)
 A Young Girl with a Dove
by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797)
(Fergus Hall Master Paintings)
Elizabeth Ross (Mrs. William Tyng)
by John Singleton Copley 1766
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Young French Girl Holding a Parrot
by Antoine Raspal (1738 - 1811)
(Blouin Art Auctions)
Thomas Aston Coffin with Battledore and Shuttlecock
by John Singleton Copley c. 1766
(National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa)
Mary Boylston (Mrs. Benjamin Hallowell)
by John Singleton Copley c. 1766 - 1767 
(Detroit Institute of Arts)
 “LE PETIT”
by Pieter Willem van Megen, After Pierre Alexandre Wile c. 1768 - 1785
(The British Museum)
 “The Happy Consultation, or Modern Match.”
by James Roberts, Published by Robert Sayer 1769
(The British Museum)
 A Cild with a Bird on a String
by James Peale c. 1770 - 1775
(Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
 Francis Graham
by Tiley Kettle c. 1774
(Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries)
A Girl in a Green Dress Holding a Red Parrot
Mid - Late 18th Century
(York Museums Trust)
 Molly Wales Forbes
by Rufus Hathaway c. 1790
(Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Pet Owls
 “Wat baet keers off bril, als den Wl niet sienen wil.”
by Cornelis Bloemaert, After Hendrik Bloemaert c. 1625
(The British Museum)
 “The OWL FACE”
London, Printed for Robt. Sayer No. 53 in Fleet Street 1775
(Sanders of Oxford)
Bird Merchants
 The Cryes of London “Buy a fine singing Bird”
by Pierce Tempest, After Marcellus Laroon II 1688
(The British Museum)
 The Cryes of London “Buy a fine singing Bird”
by Pierce Tempest, After Marcellus Laroon II 1688
(The British Museum)
Trade Card for Grainger, Purveyor of Birds
London, c. 1760
(The British Museum)
Trade Card for Joshua Brooks
London 1779
(The British Museum)
 Wicker
Bird Cages
 “DUTCH CAROUSAL.”
by Robert Sayer, After David Teniers the Younger c. 1760 - 1799
(The British Museum)
 “DUTCH CAROUSAL.”
by Robert Sayer, After David Teniers the Younger c. 1760 - 1799
(The British Museum)
 “SECUR’D FROM FLIGHT”
by Robert Sayer, After Abraham Bloemaert c. 1765 - 1775
(The British Museum)
A Girl Bundling Asparagus
by John Atkinson 1771
(Yale Center for British Art)
 “COBLER’S HALL”
by Carington Bowles 1775
(Lewis Walpole Library)
 “COBLER’S HALL”
by Carington Bowles 1775
(Lewis Walpole Library)
“TIGHT LACING or the COBLER’S WIFE in the FASHION”
by William Hitchcock 1777
(Lewis Walpole Library)
 The Rustic Lover
by Francis Wheatley 1786
(Yale Center for British Art)
Box Shaped
Bird Cages
Dutch Interior of a Mother Attending Her Children
by Willem van Mieris c. 1728
(Private Collection)
 A French Girl Feeding a Bird
by Jean Raoux Montpelier (1677 - 1734 Paris)
(Christie’s)
A Young Lady with a Birdcage, and a Boy with a Bird Nest
by Antoine Pesne (Paris 1683 - 1757 Berlin)
(Christie’s)
 Madame Baudouin
by François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
(Musee Cognacq-Jay - Paris)
 The Bird Catchers
by François Boucher 1748
(J. Paul Getty Museum)
 The Bird Catchers
by François Boucher 1748
(J. Paul Getty Museum)
 The Bird Catchers
by François Boucher 1748
(J. Paul Getty Museum)
 The Bird Catchers
by François Boucher 1748
(J. Paul Getty Museum)
 Study
by François Boucher
(Private Collection)
 A Lady Leaning on a Birdcage
by François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
(Christie’s)
 “L’Oiseau Chéri.”
Gravure de Daullé d’après un Dessin de Boucher 1758
(Private Collection)
Alexandrine Lenormand d’Etiolles Feeding a Bird
by François Boucher c. 1749
(Sotheby’s)
A Young French Lady with a Bird
Mid 18th Cenyury
(Private Collection)
 Girl with a Birdcage
by Jean-Frédéric Schall (1752-1825) - Late 18th Century
(Victoria & Albert)
Arch Topped
Bird Cages
 The Boy with the Bird Cage
by Caspar Netscher 1665
(National Trust - The Drawing Room at Knightshayes Court)
 The Schoolmaster
by William Pether c. 1760 - 1780
(The British Museum)
 “La Fleuriste” / “The Florist”
by Antoine de Marcenay de Ghuy, After Gerard Dou 1764
(The British Museum)
Dutch Tin Glazed Earthenware Tiles
18th Century
(National Museum of Scotland)
Dutch Tin Glazed Polychrome Birdcage Plaque
18th Century
(Van Nie Antiquairs)
Dutch Tin Glazed Polychrome Birdcage Plaque
18th Century
(Christie’s)
 Leonora & Leander
by Robert Sayer 1773
(The British Museum)
 Leonora & Leander
by Robert Sayer 1773
(The British Museum)
 “WINTER”
by Carington Bowles 1783
(The British Museum)
 “WINTER”
by Carington Bowles 1783
(The British Museum)
“The SINGING BIRD.”
by Carington Bowles 1781
(The British Museum)
“The SINGING BIRD.”
by Carington Bowles 1781
(The British Museum)
 “INDUSTRY.”
by Carington Bowles c. 1780 - 1790
(The British Museum)
Dome Topped
Bird Cages
 French Lady with a Parrot
by Abraham Bosse Mid 17th Century
(Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Dutch Girl at a Window with a Parrot
by Caspar Netscher 1666
(The British Museum)
Dutch Girl at a Window with a Parrot
by Caspar Netscher 1666
(Von der Heydt Museum)
 Dutch Girl at a Window with Birds
by Pieter van der Werff c. 1710
(Daphne Alazraki Fine Art, New York)
 Illustration to Gay’s “Fables”
by Gerard van der Gucht, After John Wootton c. 1727 - 1776
(The British Museum)
 Illustration to Gay’s “Fables”
by Gerard van der Gucht, After John Wootton c. 1727 - 1776
(The British Museum)
 “The Escaped Bird”
by Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690 - 1743)
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
 “The Escaped Bird”
by Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690 - 1743)
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
 A Book Illustration
by Gerard Jean Baptiste Scotin II, Published by John Knapton, After Gravelot, 1738
(The British Museum)
 A Book Illustration
by Gerard Jean Baptiste Scotin II, Published by John Knapton, After Gravelot, 1738
(The British Museum)
The Children of Daniel Graham, Apothecary to King George II
by William Hogarth 1742
(National Gallery of Art)
“The FRENCH Bird KICK’D into a CAGE: An Emblematical PRINT.”
London 1745
(The British Museum)
Three Young Ladies with a Parrot in a Cage
by Joseph Melling (1724 - 1796)
(Bonhams)
“LE CHAT ET LES DEUX MOINEAUX. Fable CCXV.”
1778
(Private Collection)
 A Lady at Her Organ with a Bird
by Jean- Baptiste Simeon Chardin 1753
(The Frick Collection)
 “The Lady instructing her Favorite Bird”
London, After Jean- Baptiste Simeon Chardin c. 1766
(The British Museum)
 “The Lady instructing her Favorite Bird”
London, After Jean- Baptiste Simeon Chardin c. 1766
(The British Museum)
Mrs. Ann Fairchild Bowler, Wife of Newport, Rhode Island, Merchant, Metcalf Bowler
by John Singleton Copley 1758
(Colby College Museum of Art)
Mrs. Ann Fairchild Bowler, Wife of Newport, Rhode Island, Merchant, Metcalf Bowler
by John Singleton Copley 1758
(Colby College Museum of Art)
“The FAIR LADY working TAMBOUR.”
by Carington Bowles 1764
(The British Museum)
“The FAIR LADY working TAMBOUR.”
by Carington Bowles 1764
(The British Museum)
Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria with a Caged Parrot
by Anton Raphael Mengsc c. 1765
(Private Collection)
Reverend Thomas D’Oyly & His Wife, Henrietta Maria
by Arthur Devis
(Sotheby’s)
Reverend Thomas D’Oyly & His Wife, Henrietta Maria
by Arthur Devis
(Sotheby’s)
 “CATTULUS AND LESBIA.”
by John Keyse Sherwin, Published by Thomas Watson, After Angelica Kauffman 1784
(The British Museum)
 “Happy Family...”
by Thomas Berwick 1785
(The British Museum)
 A Book Illustration
by Thomas Berwick 1785
(The British Museum)
 French Birdcage
18th - Early 19th Century
(Alhambra Antiques)
American Birdcage with Rosehead Nails
Late 18th - Early 19th Century
(Gould Auctions)
Miscellaneous
Bird Cages
Dutch Tin Glazed Earthenware Tiles
18th Century
(Willet - Holthuysen Museum)
Dutch Tin Glazed Polychrome Birdcage Plaque
Mid 18th Century
(Sotheby’s)
 European Birdcage
18th - Early 19th Century
(Kevin Stone Antiques)
 Dutch Birdcage
18th - Early 19th Century
(Cooper - Hewitt / Smithsonian Institution)
 A Young Lady by a Birdcage
by Jean - Baptiste Charpentier (1728 - 1806)
(Private Collection)
Mechanical
Birdcages
Gilt Bronze & Enamel Bird Cage & Clock with Mechanical Bird that Sings 7 Tunes on the Hour & Half Hour
by Pierre Jaquet Droz, Genève c. 1780
(Antiquorum)
Gilt Bronze & Enamel Bird Cage & Clock with Mechanical Bird that Sings on the Hour & Half Hour
On Display at the Syon House of England 18th Century
(Rhodes/Syon Park)
 Bird
Houses
American Lead Glazed Earthenware Bird House or Bird Bottle from Virginia
by William Rogers of Yorktown, Virginia c. 1725 - 1750
(Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
 Acknowledgements

The material contained within these slideshows is presented for educational purposes only. The
18th Century Material Culture Resource Center does not personally own any of the items
depicted herein and is indebted to the countless museums, libraries, and private collectors who
willingly share their collections with the public through the internet. Every attempt has been
made to credit these organizations and individuals for their contributions as best as possible.

If there is a question you have regarding a particular item featured within a presentation, please
contact the 18th Century Material Culture Resource Center and we will try to answer your
inquiry as best as possible. If for any reason you feel there is any item that should not be
presented here, or if there is an error in any listing, or if you know the source for any item whose
credit is unknown, please inform us and we will make sure your concern is addressed as soon as
possible.

Thank you!

- The 18th Century Material Culture Resource Center