Trajan Hughes (British, b. 1670): oil on canvas depicting a ...

Hammer

£12,000

Trajan Hughes (British, b. 1670): oil on canvas depicting a farmyard scene with cockerel, three white speckled hens and their five chicks pecking at corn, a farm building, fence and trees to the background, and a flock of birds flying in the distance against the dawn sky, signed 'Trajan Hughes' lower centre, 82 by 102cm (32.2 by 40.2 inches). PROVENANCE: Purchased by the vendor's father, circa 1970, from an art gallery in Chester, the gallery reputedly had purchased the painting from an auction in Wales some time before. NOTES: Born in Wales, Trajan Hughes is one of the earliest recorded animal painters in Britain and his works are extremely rare. He was a contemporary of Francis Barlow, who drew and painted similar subjects. Hughes' small oeuvre of bird paintings display a delightful simplicity with close attention to detail in the plumage and the features of the birds. His palette is reminiscent of Dutch and Flemish old masters but painted with a directness and charm rooted in British painting of the period.