c. 18th century

Gray Partridge

This lightly colored drawing is an unfinished work. Traces of chalky underdrawing are clearly visible, as are previous sketches of the bird’s head and beak, later corrected and eventually completely redrawn. On close inspection, it is possible to see that the black lines have been pricked with a pin, making the page into a stencil that could be used to transfer the drawing from one sheet of paper to another using powdered charcoal.