About this objectWilliam Huggins was born in Liverpool in May 1820. He specialised in animal painting, frequently sketching at the Liverpool Zoological Gardens in Chester, at Wombwell's Travelling Circus, and from exotic animals that he kept himself. He maintained a high opinion of his abilities and once, when a well-meaning client compared one of his works to that of Si Edwin Landseer, he replied 'Landseer! If I had had Landseer through my hands for six months I could made a man of him.' His drawing technique reflects his use of oil paint in which he uses thinly-applied translucent colours on a white ground similar to a method advocated by Pre-Raphaelite painters.
MakerHuggins, William (1820-1884)
Maker Roledraughtsman
Period19th century
Medium and Materialsmedium: crayon
support: paper
Style and IconographyAnimals
Inscription and Marks1832 / W. Huggins
Method: written pencil ?
Position: bottom right
Techniquecrayon on paper
Measurementsmedium: height: 36.4cm, medium: width: 54.5cm, medium: depth: cm, medium: diameter: cm
Subject and Association Keywordslion
Credit LinePurchased from Brown & Brown's sale, 1928