Thwaites Sheet of Butterfly Studies

An original 1814 watercolour painting, Thwaites, Sheet of Butterfly Studies.

An exceptional sheet of exquisitely hand-painted entomological studies, dating from around 1814. It is believed to have been painted by the Thwaites sisters of the Thwaites brewery family of Blackburn. The painting formed part of a collection apparently gifted to a 'Miss Jones' (see photograph of inscription).A sheet of studies this comprehensive and surviving in this condition is rare. The butterflies are individually inscribed with their Latin names, as shown.