Attrib. William 'Quaker' Pegg Flower Study with Tulip & Morning Glory

An original mid-19th-century watercolour painting, Attrib. William 'Quaker' Pegg, Flower Study with Tulip & Morning Glory.

A rare flower subject attributed to the celebrated Derby ceramics artist William 'Quaker' Pegg (1775–1851). Pegg is regarded by many as being the finest flower painter to have ever worked in ceramics. He also has an interesting biography in which his passion for his art was in tumultuous conflict with his ardent Quaker beliefs.

This watercolour is one of a small collection of eight flower subjects, two of which are signed 'Wm Pegg'. The watercolours in this collection bear Pegg's distinctive flamboyant yet natural style, in which the leaves are markedly shadowed and appear to fold and curl.

Pegg is known to have produced sketches in watercolour and pencil as preliminary studies for his finished designs. A sketchbook of his work is held in the collection of the Royal Crown Derby Museum. Our watercolours are variously inscribed 1829, 1830 and 1841, dating them to the later period of the artist's life. Pegg's conflict between his art and his Quaker faith led him to burn most of his personal sketchbooks from his earlier period, which is why extant drawings date from after his return to the Derby factory in 1813. In later life, Pegg became a shopkeeper, having a hucksters shop at 38 Nottingham Road, Derby, close to the old factory site. Although Pegg no longer worked as an artist at this time, he reportedly hung watercolours in the window of his shop.

In watercolour with bodycolour on wove paper. The paper is cut to an oval.