{"product_id":"watercolour-painting-birds-jays-signed-donald-watson","title":"Watercolour Painting Birds Jays Signed Donald Watson","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-start=\"164\" data-end=\"260\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOriginal Donald Watson (1918–2005) Signed Mixed Media Jays on Larch 1957 | Scottish Wildlife Art\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"262\" data-end=\"348\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"350\" data-end=\"369\"\u003e🐦 Subject \u0026amp; Medium\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"371\" data-end=\"633\"\u003eA superb original mixed media painting on paper by celebrated British wildlife artist, ornithologist and author Donald Watson (1918–2005), depicting two beautifully observed Eurasian Jays (Garrulus glandarius) perched amongst the branches of a mature larch tree.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"635\" data-end=\"964\"\u003ePainted in 1957, this early work captures the intelligence, elegance and vibrant plumage of one of Britain's most charismatic woodland birds. Watson's remarkable ability to combine scientific observation with artistic excellence makes this both an exceptional ornithological study and an outstanding work of British wildlife art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"966\" data-end=\"1062\"\u003ePresented beneath protective glass in its original light oak frame, ready for immediate display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1064\" data-end=\"1150\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1152\" data-end=\"1178\"\u003e🎨 Composition \u0026amp; Technique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1180\" data-end=\"1348\"\u003eDonald Watson was renowned for portraying birds within their natural habitat rather than as isolated subjects, and this painting perfectly demonstrates that philosophy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1350\" data-end=\"1719\"\u003eExecuted in mixed media with watercolour, the delicately rendered larch branches provide a natural setting while subtle brushwork conveys texture, movement and atmosphere. Brilliant cobalt-blue wing feathers contrast beautifully with warm pink-brown plumage and bold black facial markings, showcasing Watson's exceptional draughtsmanship and years of field observation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1721\" data-end=\"1807\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1809\" data-end=\"1830\"\u003e📜 Historical Context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1832\" data-end=\"2001\"\u003eCreated in 1957, this early work predates many of the exhibitions, publications and honours that established Donald Watson as one of Britain's foremost wildlife artists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2003\" data-end=\"2313\"\u003eThe Eurasian Jay is Britain's most colourful member of the crow family, renowned for its intelligence and woodland habits. Famous for burying thousands of acorns each autumn, Jays play an important role in the regeneration of native oak forests and have long inspired wildlife artists and ornithologists alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2315\" data-end=\"2401\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2403\" data-end=\"2425\"\u003e👨🎨 About the Artist\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2427\" data-end=\"2528\"\u003eDonald Watson (1918–2005) ranks amongst the finest British wildlife artists of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2530\" data-end=\"2719\"\u003eEncouraged by the renowned bird painter Archibald Thorburn, Watson later became a founding member of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and helped establish the Isle of May Bird Observatory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2721\" data-end=\"2932\"\u003eFollowing studies at Oxford University and military service in India during the Second World War, he devoted his career to painting Britain's birdlife with remarkable scientific accuracy and artistic refinement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2934\" data-end=\"3164\"\u003eHis work was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and the Royal Institute, alongside successful solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, Oxford, Dumfries, Toronto and Luxembourg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3166\" data-end=\"3262\"\u003eHe illustrated more than thirty books, including The Oxford Book of British Birds, and authored:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3264\" data-end=\"3299\"\u003e• Birds of Moor and Mountain (1972)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3301\" data-end=\"3325\"\u003e• The Hen Harrier (1977)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3327\" data-end=\"3361\"\u003e• A Bird Artist in Scotland (1988)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3363\" data-end=\"3388\"\u003e• One Pair of Eyes (1994)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3390\" data-end=\"3520\"\u003eWatson also served as President of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and was a founding member of the Society of Wildlife Artists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3608\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3610\" data-end=\"3622\"\u003e✍️ Signature\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3624\" data-end=\"3660\"\u003eSigned by the artist and dated 1957.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3662\" data-end=\"3748\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3750\" data-end=\"3769\"\u003e🖼️ Framed \u0026amp; Glazed\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3771\" data-end=\"3871\"\u003ePresented beneath protective glass in its original light oak frame with hanging cord to the reverse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3873\" data-end=\"3906\"\u003eReady for immediate wall display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3908\" data-end=\"3994\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3996\" data-end=\"4011\"\u003e📏 Measurements\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4013\" data-end=\"4018\"\u003eFrame\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4020\" data-end=\"4050\"\u003e• Height: 35 cm (13.78 inches)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4052\" data-end=\"4081\"\u003e• Width: 47 cm (18.50 inches)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4083\" data-end=\"4112\"\u003e• Depth: 1.5 cm (0.59 inches)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4114\" data-end=\"4127\"\u003eVisible Image\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4129\" data-end=\"4158\"\u003e• Width: 33 cm (12.99 inches)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4160\" data-end=\"4191\"\u003e• Height: 19.5 cm (7.68 inches)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4193\" data-end=\"4279\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4281\" data-end=\"4295\"\u003e🏛️ Provenance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4297\" data-end=\"4398\"\u003eOriginally purchased by J. M. Dickson directly from Donald Watson at his home, 47 Main Street, Dalry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4400\" data-end=\"4498\"\u003eFollowing J. M. Dickson's death, the painting passed by descent to his son, Douglas of Leominster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4500\" data-end=\"4659\"\u003eIt was subsequently offered through Keys Fine Art Auctioneers, retaining both the original auction label and handwritten provenance inscription to the reverse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4661\" data-end=\"4749\"\u003eLater acquired from a respected antiques dealer exhibiting at the Aintree Antiques Fair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4751\" data-end=\"4810\"\u003eProfessionally curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4812\" data-end=\"4887\"\u003eSubsequently privately loaned and exhibited at the Famous Lord Hill Museum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4889\" data-end=\"4975\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4977\" data-end=\"4997\"\u003e✨ Why You'll Love It\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4999\" data-end=\"5051\"\u003e• Original signed Donald Watson mixed media painting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5053\" data-end=\"5065\"\u003e• Dated 1957\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5067\" data-end=\"5105\"\u003e• Beautiful study of two Eurasian Jays\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5107\" data-end=\"5165\"\u003e• Early work by one of Britain's foremost wildlife artists\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5167\" data-end=\"5200\"\u003e• Excellent documented provenance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5202\" data-end=\"5235\"\u003e• Original period light oak frame\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5237\" data-end=\"5266\"\u003e• Ready for immediate display\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5268\" data-end=\"5353\"\u003e• Ideal for collectors of Scottish Fine Art, British wildlife art and natural history\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5394\" data-end=\"5480\"\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🔍 Condition Report\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5503\" data-end=\"5537\"\u003eOffered in fine vintage condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5539\" data-end=\"5672\"\u003eThe artwork is well preserved with strong colour, excellent definition and an attractive overall appearance beneath protective glass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5674\" data-end=\"5853\"\u003eThe original light oak frame displays minor age-related scuffs, scratches and small chips consistent with age and careful handling. The protective glass remains in good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5855\" data-end=\"5966\"\u003ePlease study all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the description and condition report.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReady for immediate display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"auto\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full break-words light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\/thread-bottom-container relative isolate z-10 w-full basis-auto has-data-has-thread-error:pt-2 has-data-has-thread-error:[box-shadow:var(--sharp-edge-bottom-shadow)] md:border-transparent md:pt-0 dark:border-white\/20 md:dark:border-transparent content-fade single-line flex flex-col\" id=\"thread-bottom-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-token-text-secondary relative mt-auto flex min-h-8 w-full items-center justify-center p-2 text-center text-xs md:px-[60px]\"\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eShipping\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorldwide Shipping Available — Professionally packaged and fully insured for secure international delivery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailable exclusively through Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD — Inquire now to secure this unique piece.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full break-words light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\u003chr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40722643583148,"sku":"CAC-SK-0495","price":2950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0201\/2227\/1808\/products\/Mix7878ed-Media-Painting-Jays-Perched-Larch-full-1A-2048-10.10-179ab4a7-f.png?v=1634828925","url":"https:\/\/cheshireantiquesconsultantltd.com\/ga-il\/products\/watercolour-painting-birds-jays-signed-donald-watson","provider":"Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD","version":"1.0","type":"link"}