John Frederick Lewis

Spink, London, July 1996

The panel is slightly bowed. Slightly dirty otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals scattered flecks of retouching throughout, predominantly located in the sky. Held in a gilt composite frame.
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This oil depicts a pair of bird scarers in situ. The heavy crop to the right is bathed in the late summer sun and interspersed with poppies and bull rushes. In the centre left two bird scarers can be seen using a ‘clapper’ to dispel any hungry crows. In the hand of the standing figure it is possible to make out a dead crow which must have dared too close to the long range of his musket. Right up until the advent of automated machines in the 1950s, a month or so prior to harvest bird scarers were employed to spend their days protecting the valuable grain.

The painting can be most likely dated to the late 1820s or very early 1830s. The pastoral scene bears close relation to Lewis’ works of this period and demonstrates his skill at capturing the interplay between light and nature. Whether reflecting off of the golden fields, or creating rich hues in the dense forest at the left of the picture. The year 1833 marked the departure from this type of scene and the beginning of Lewis’ extensive travels culminating in his most notable works in North Africa.