[Lille], unpublished, 1843. Original watercolour on single sheet of cardboard (28.7 x 22.6 cm). Preserved in large (50.0 x 35.0 cm) modern cardboard frame with transparent overlay.

A wonderful original watercolour and gouache drawing, partly enhanced with gum arabic, of a barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica Linnaeus), its nest, and - quite typical for the artist - some invertebrate animals, viz. a spider and a tabanid fly. The French glassmaker and natural history painter, Charles Gaudelet (1817-1870) is renowned both for his illustrations of insects and other small animals, in the tradition of the Flemish renaissance painter Joris Hoefnagel, and for designing and producing stained glass for several churches, in particular in northern France. Original drawings, such as this one, are very uncommon, especially with an ornithological subject. Signed and dated, as usual, by the artist, in the lower right, and captioned in the lower left margin. A few small imperfections, but generally in very good condition, the colouring still strong and bright. a very good item.