Common Crane

Original watercolour, for plate 64, in volume 3, in Lilford’s Birds of the British Islands, signed in pencil ‘G.E. Lodge’, 225 x 150mm, c.1885

A particularly fine watercolour of the Common Crane in its natural habitat.

George Edward Lodge was an British bird illustrator. He worked on illustrations for several publications, some of which were in conjunction with Archibald Thornburn.

He is described as “A man of most exceptional charm and distinction, [Lodge] was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the finest bird-artists this country has ever produced. His wide experience in falconry doubtless gave him special knowledge of the hawk family, for he was a keen falconer from his earliest days. In the painting of birds of prey he had no rival in any country. He was primarily an artist but, being a good naturalist as well, he was able to depict his subjects among their natural surroundings and to make them look alive.”