Turtle Dove Fine Art Print
A high quality fine art print on Hahnemühle German Etching art paper of a pair of Turtle Doves in a tree, painted by wildlife painter Peter Paillou (c.1720-c.1790) on 10th December 1748.
Superb Turtle Dove Fine Art Print on Museum-Quality Paper
We've meticulously reproduced Turtle Dove Fine Art Print on museum-quality fine art paper, matched to size. The 6in x 8in print is produced on Enhanced Matte Art Paper [EMA], a heavy-duty fine art paper with a smooth, non-reflective finish. The 12in x 16in and 18in x 24in prints are produced on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper [HGE], an acid and lignin-free archival paper with a fine tooth, offering our highest level of detail and longevity.
Both papers are fade-resistant and colourfast, using pigment inks designed to preserve the clarity and depth of the original artwork for decades. Every print is produced to order from a high-resolution master file, ensuring sharp detail and accurate colour reproduction.
* The Turtle Dove Fine Art Print is printed on premium 324gsm Mohawk fine art cardstock using high-definition archival inks for a museum-quality, crisp finish.
The Taylor White Collection's 18th Century Watercolour Painting of the Turtle Dove
Our Turtle Dove comes from the original collection of Taylor White F.R.S. (1701-1772). In the mid-18th Century, White commissioned the celebrated wildlife painter Peter Paillou (c.1720 - c.1790) to paint a number of specimens for his collection. The watercolour of the Turtle Dove was among the works Paillou produced for White.
The original Turtle Dove watercolour is finely painted, with remarkable detail, allowing the plumage and features of the Turtle Dove to be seen in stunning clarity. This depth of colour and detail has been captured brilliantly through the digitisation process and is replicated here for your home or office decor, or as a thoughtful gift.
Taylor White, a barrister by profession and later Puisne Judge for Chester, was a keen naturalist and Fellow of the Royal Society, elected in 1725. Over nearly forty years from the 1730s until his death in 1772, he commissioned 938 watercolours of birds, mammals, fish and reptiles, including the Turtle Dove, now held at McGill University and painted almost entirely by two artists, Charles Collins and Peter Paillou. White was a founding governor of The Foundling Hospital in London and served as its treasurer for the last twenty-five years of his life. His well-connected social and scientific circle gave his artists exceptional access to specimens: his second wife, Frances Armstrong, was the daughter of General John Armstrong, Governor of the Tower of London and Chief Royal Engineer, and White's artists painted the lions, wolves and other animals of the Royal Menagerie there. He also borrowed specimens from the British Museum, and received rare and exotic birds from friends, including the naturalist Joseph Banks, who sailed to Newfoundland in 1766, and William Harrison, who brought back specimens from voyages testing his father's marine chronometer.
The Oriental Turtle Dove
Painted by Peter Paillou on 10th December 1748, this watercolour of the Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) forms part of the Taylor White Collection, a body of 18th Century natural history illustrations distinguished by their precision and quiet elegance.
Description of the Turtle Dove
The Turtle Dove is a slender, elegant member of the pigeon and dove family, once a familiar sight across the British countryside in summer. It is readily identified by the warm, tortoiseshell-like patterning across its back and wings, where chestnut feathers are edged in black, giving a scaled or mottled effect. The breast is a soft, dusky pink, fading to pale grey towards the belly, while a distinctive patch of black and white striped feathers marks each side of the neck, a feature shared with related dove species.
The Range of the Turtle Dove
Migratory by nature, the Turtle Dove would arrive in Britain each spring, having travelled from wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa, before departing again in early autumn. Paillou’s watercolour captures this seasonal visitor with the same careful attention to plumage and form found throughout the Taylor White Collection, reflecting the meticulous observational standards of 18th Century natural history illustration.
This watercolour stands as both a scientific record and a work of quiet artistry, offering a window into the natural world as observed and documented in the mid-1700s.
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