Jean-Gabriel Prêtre – A Horse, Donkey and a Buffalo

A fine watercolour painted circa1830 and signed in gold leaf (lower left). Framed and glazed. The condition is very good. Provenance: Joanna Booth, Kings Road, Chelsea, London.

Watercolour: 6 1/8 x 3 1/2 in. (15.5 x 9 cm.)
Frame: 15 1/8 x 11 1/16 in. (38.3 x 26.1 cm.)

Jean-Gabriel Prêtre was a Swiss French natural history painter who illustrated birds, mammals and reptiles in many books. Several species of animal were named after him, including a species of worm lizard, Amphisbaena pretrei, named in his honour. He worked as a natural history illustrator, first for Empress Josephine’s zoo, and then for the Natural History Museum in Paris.