Ashmolean The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

The two black and yellow finches branches of larch, one above the other.

This print was taken from John Gould's "The Birds of Great Britain", published in five volumes from1863 to 1873. Ruskin's name appears in the list of subscribers. The "Serin Finch, on Larch Buds" is pl. 38 of vol. III and is entitled "Serinus hortulanus". In the accompanying text Gould writes: 'The opposite Plate represents a male and a female, of the natural size, on a branch of the larch. The female is distinguished by being not so yellow, darker, on the upper surface, and more spotted below'.

According to James Dearden (personal communication, 20 December 2003), Ruskin's copy of Gould's "British Birds" was sold by Sotheby’s, 18 May 1931, lot 79, to Marks for 6 guineas, and are now untraced. He suggests that the set which Cook and Wedderburn describe as having been given away (XXXIV.699) may be the set now in the collection of the Guild of Saint George; these are complete, so cannot be the source for the plates in the collection.

Ruskin listed a series of plates from Gould in all of his published Rudimentary Series catalogues (1872-3), occupying the second section of cabinet eight, that is, nos 189-200, of which this is one. Nos 181-187 had been replaced by drawings by Stacey Marks by the time of Cook and Wedderburn's edition of the catalogues in 1906. Gould's plate of the "Little Egret" was also included in the series as no. 225.

Ruskin did not produce individual catalogue entries for the plates of birds in this section of cabinet eight (as well as the Le Vaillants and one other Gould in cabinet nine). Instead, the contents of the cabinet are simply referred to as plates from Gould. The reason this might be so is hinted at in an inscription, presumably in Ruskin's hand, on Rudimentary Series no. 223, which reads: 'All these plates are only put in temporarily: and un-named; because every bird has half a dozen names, now, and I can't get my catalogue printed, safely, yet, but for drawing practice - they will serve, just now. It is of no use arranging till the frames are all filled'.

Although Ruskin claimed that 'entire dependence may be placed on the accuracy of representation', he observed that the 'fine lithograpic texture' of the plates might make copying difficult. However, he seems to have valued them for their potential to further his students' relationship with birds and their study (pp. 20-21 in all published Rudimentary Series catalogues) - as also appears in other references which he made to Gould's work (Fors Clavigera, letter 51 (March 1875), § 23 = XXVIII.290; Love's Meinie, § 87 = XXV.77-9; The Eagle's Nest, §§ 173-9 = XXII.241-4 - the latter emphasizing seeing and drawing birds as a means of understanding them).

Ruskin noted in his catalogue that Gould's "Birds", like Le Vaillant's "Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis" (1806), 'should eventually form a part of the student's library' (all published Rudimentary Series catalogues,l p. 20). However, as Cook and Wedderburn have concluded, such a library was never formed on account of the numerous facilities available in Oxford, although a few books were set aside in a case at the Drawing School (XXI.226 n. 6).