SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. 49 



in water-colour, all of which were done before the 

 young artist was ten years of age. 



One drawing" of a foxhound was made when he 

 was five : that of a bull calf lying on straw bears a 

 note stating that this was done " when he was 

 first breeched." The water-colour drawing of a 

 liver and white pointer — head and shoulders — 

 bears no inscription unless "lo" in pencil indi- 

 cates the youthful artist's age. The head of a 

 horse eating- from a nosebag was drawn when he 

 was six or seven years old : a bull's head, a donkey's 

 head, and a sow drowsing- with her well-grown 

 litter grouped about her, when he was eight. Mar- 

 vellously clean and firm in line is the parrot on 

 its perch drawn at the age of nine. A cat's head 

 drawn at the age of ten completes a collection, 

 small, but of rare interest. It is difficult to realise 

 that such sketches as the foxhound, the bull calf 

 parrot and donkey's head were drawn by a child. 



John Landseer held the opinion that an ordinary 

 course of education, if not harmful to an artist, was 

 at least unnecessary ; and as Edwin's profession 

 was plainly indicated at the age of five years, he 

 suffered little from the books for which he had no 

 taste. He was encouraged to follow his own bent, 

 and his early school-rooms were the fields which 

 then lay between London and Hampstead, and 

 Exeter 'Change where the famous menagerie pro- 

 4 VOL. 11. 



