Artefact of the month - March
There is an estimated 6,000 artworks held in ZSL’s Library and at Whipsnade. Every month one of these pieces will feature here as Artefact of the month.
| March 2006 - Watercolour of an Asian lion by Edward Lear | |
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Edward Lear may be better known for his nonsense verse and limericks but he began his career as a zoological illustrator, illustrating the parrots in the Parrot House at London Zoo and providing images for the Transactions of the Zoological Society. This watercolour was used as the basis of a colour illustration of an Asian lion to accompany Captain Smee’s first scientific description of an Asian lion. The illustration and the article were published in Volume 1 of the Transactions of the Zoological Society in 1835. The Michael Marks Trust has provided funding for the cataloguing of the artworks in ZSL’s collections. An online catalogue to the artworks will be accessible later this year. |
