CHARLES COLLINS (DUBLIN 1680-1744 LONDON)

Little is known of Charles Collins' early life, but he settled in London where he became well known as a painter of birds and mammals. Collins was commissioned by Taylor White, a judge and collector of curios and natural history, to record his collection of live and stuffed birds and mammals. Collins produced 201 signed bird paintings from White's collection, with each bird drawn in a conventional composistion with a grassy mound or tree stump. His birds, despite being largely drawn from stuffed specimens, have a marked liveliness.