About this lot

Description

Samuel Howitt (British, 1756-1822)

Studies of a Cougar and an Ocelot
both signed 'Howitt' and inscribed below 'F. Concolor' and 'F. Ocelot of Albany'
watercolour on paper
19.5 x 13cm (2)

Provenance:
Messrs. Fores of Piccadilly, London

Samuel Howitt (1756-1822) was born into a wealthy Quaker family who were squires at Chigwell, Essex. He spent his youth participating in field sports and only turned to art professionally after running into financial difficulty. Perhaps because of his strict Quaker upbringing, Howitt was known for having a ‘carefree attitude’. He spent much of his time frequenting the gambling houses and drinking parlours of London with his brother-in-law, the acclaimed caricaturist, Thomas Rowlandson.

Mostly working in oil and watercolour, Howitt’s artistic output was broad and varied. Often working from life, his light-hearted and spirited depictions of animals appeared in several sporting and other publications. He executed numerous studies at the Royal Menagerie in The Tower of London, exhibited works at the Royal Academy and worked on private natural history commissions.

Perhaps the most notable of these commissions was the five-volume album Ornithological Collection that Howitt worked on alongside J.M.W. Turner. Compiled in the early 1820s for Walter Fawkes (1769-1825) at Farnley Hall, Yorkshire, the album contained watercolours by Turner and Howitt alongside plumage specimens and cut-outs taken from Thomas Bewick’s British Birds series. Fawkes had a considerable collection of Howitt's and Turner’s work, and on several occasions invited the artists to his estate where he would entertain them.

Framed 34 x 27cm

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