Rhinoceros
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/P 267
Scientific nameRhinoceros unicornis
CollectionHunterian Art
CategoryVisual works
Object nameAnimal subjects (visual works), Oil paintings
TitleRhinoceros
DescriptionPainting of an Indian rhinoceros, by George Stubbs, unsigned, c.1792.
The rhinoceros is shown full length in profile, facing towards the left with the head turned slightly away from the viewer.
The rhinoceros pictured is one which arrived London in June 1790 aboard the East Indiaman 'Melville Castle'. It was sold to Thomas Clark, a menagerie-keeper who exhibited it at the Lyceum near Exeter 'Change in London. It was probably about this time that Stubbs made his painting. In February 1793 Clark sold the rhino to another menagerie-keeper, Gilbert Pidcock. It was an astute move by Clark, since the animal died a few months later. Undeterred, Pidcock exhibited the stuffed skin for several years.
The painting was owned by John Hunter before 1793, and was among those displayed in his museum in Leicester Square.
Production date 1790 - 1792
Artist
Owner/user
transferred
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 6: Leicester Square
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas. Original canvas size 70.0 x 90.6 cm. Stretcher size 75.5 x 96.6 cm. Max framed dimensions 96.3 x 117.5 cm
Bibliography
SourceEgerton 1984
124-125
NotesThe painting is figured and described as entry no. 87* in the catalogue of an exhibtion of Stubbs' work at the Tate Gallery, 1984.
SourceClift 1816
NotesManuscript list titled "A List of Paintings and Drawings framed and glazed, numbered according to the Situation in which they were placed round the rail of the Gallery in Mr. Hunter's museum in Castle Street Leicester Square"
Transcript7. The Rhinoceros. Unicornis.
