The Wild Bull (Wild Bull of the Ancient Caledonian Breed Now in the Park at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland)
Bewick's celebrated print was commissioned by the wealthy amateur naturalist Marmaduke Tunstall (1743–1790) in late 1788. The following spring the artist set off for Chillingham to make sketches of the wild breed of cattle that had roamed that part of Northumberland for centuries. He recalled the bleak wintry conditions he encountered there on his journey by foot from Newcastle, "passing over the surface of immense old, winter wreaths of frozen snow." By July 1789 the large woodblock was finished and Tunstall was pleased to note that "the figure is well engraved, and has much expression." The woodblock was printed in a number of successive editions and the last was published, as here, in 1878 by Robert Robinson.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Wild Bull (Wild Bull of the Ancient Caledonian Breed Now in the Park at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland)
- Artist: Thomas Bewick (British, Eltringham, Northumberland 1753–1828 Gateshead)
- Date: 1878
- Medium: Wood engraving
- Dimensions: Image: 5 7/16 × 8 1/8 in. (13.8 × 20.6 cm)
Sheet: 11 1/4 × 14 15/16 in. (28.5 × 38 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of David Silve, 1936
- Object Number: 36.23.50(1)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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