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LUKE CRADOCK. 



(Born circa 1657. Died 1717.) 



T UKE CRADOCK was born at Somerton, in 

 -*— ' Somertsetshire, about the year 1657. In his 

 youth, his parents, actuated perhaps by the desire 

 to encourage what they supposed to be his natural 

 bent, apprenticed him to a London house-painter ; 

 and in this very elementary school, without instruc- 

 tion and with few opportunities of study, Cradock's 

 innate talent developed. 



Birds and animals were the subjects to which 

 he devoted his brush and his success in the 

 portrayal of these was the more remarkable, inas- 

 much as he was entirely self-taught. His birds, 

 particularly, show strength and truth of colouring, 

 but spirit and fidelity to nature distinguish all his 

 works. His paintings were in much request for 

 decorative purposes to be placed over chimney- 

 pieces and doors ; their value rose greatly after 

 his death for Horace Walpole quoting Vertue. 

 the great authority on painting in the various 

 English collections, states that Cradock's pictures 

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