Oak forest with a pig
Anonymous, British, 19th century British
Formerly attributed to John Baptist Malchair British
Not on view
British nineteenth-century viewers would have recognized these mature oaks as symbols of sturdy national character and, more concretely, a resource crucial to the country's famous "wooden walls"--the navy that protected the coasts. This composition by an unknown draftsman recalls precedents by the Dutch artist Antoine Waterloo (1609-1690), and the soft draftsmanship indicates a possible connection to the Oxford drawing master John Malchair (ca. 1770-1812). A pig searching for acorns in the foreground adds a note of whimsy.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
