Skip to main content

George Edwards Animal Paintings

English, 1694-1773

Known today as the Father of British Ornithology, George Edwards was a draftsman and naturalist who popularized the art of bird and animal illustrations throughout the 18th century. His main collections of etchings, which were bound as the volumes A Natural History of Uncommon Birds and Gleaning of Natural History, together comprise more than 600 animals and were the first works to delineate many of the featured species.

Edwards cultivated an interest in natural history while traveling around Europe, becoming particularly enamored with birds. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, in 1733, Irish physicist Hans Sloane, an acquaintance of British naturalists/illustrators Eleazar Albin and Mark Catesby, offered Edwards a librarian position at the Royal College of Physicians. The job granted him access to a large collection of works on natural history, which he explored enthusiastically. 

With instruction from Catesby, Edwards learned etching and spent much of his time preparing plates and drawings for his books. While Edwards hand-colored his early editions, later works were colored in by other artists, like British artist Peter Paillou, allowing Edwards to focus on etching and writing.

George Edwards earned his reputation for both his illustrations and written descriptions of his subjects — widely acclaimed for their accuracy. Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus cited Edwards’s texts when developing his major work, Systema Naturæ. The Royal Society in London awarded Edwards the Copley Medal in 1750 for outstanding achievement in the field of science. Edwards retired in 1763 to Plaistow, England, and died in 1773.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of George Edwards engravings and wall decorations.

to
27
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
27
27
27
27
23
3
2
1
1
1
27
27
11
2
55
387
69
55
49
22
23
4
Artist: George Edwards
George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural Hi...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards : A Set of Twelve 18th Century Etchings of Hummingbirds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Etching

Set of Twelve 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Set of Twelve 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Etching

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Related Items
Monmouth County Hunt Race Meet NJ Landscape
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Claus Hoie (1911-2007). Monmouth Hunt Race Meet 2, 1967. Watercolor on paper. Measuring 15 x 19 inches; 24 x 28 inched framed. Signed and titled lower left. Original label on verso. Hoie was born in Stavanger, Norway, November 3, 1911. He lived for a few years in Oslo before emigrating to the United States at the age of thirteen, when he settled in Brooklyn, NY. He spent time at sea (two years), a heritage from his grandfather and father who were both ship’s captains. During World War II, Hoie served four years in the Army as a Sergeant in a special Norwegian-American battalion of the mountain infantry (99th Infantry Battalion), whose mission was to assist in the liberation of Norway. His Battalion also landed on Normandy Beach five days after D-Day. ​ After the war, he studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Claus also attended Pratt Institute, and at the Art Students League in New York. Hoie worked as an independent artist creating primarily watercolor works and graphics However, also was a commercial artist. In the 1950s he met the young artist and fashion designer, Helen Hunt Bencker and in 1957 they wed. Helen Hoie...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

The Reader
By Thomas Broadbent
Located in New York, NY
Signed on reverse, 22"x30" available unframed. Thomas Broadbent has shown extensively throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. Broadbent’s work won the Pulse Prize for best s...
Category

2010s Contemporary George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

"The Visit" Cougar at Poolside, Contemporary Surrealist Painting
By Thomas Broadbent
Located in New York, NY
29.5"x41" watercolor on paper. In this contemporary surrealist watercolor painting by Thomas Broadbent, a cougar climbs along a poolside lounger chair. Two glasses of wine and a st...
Category

2010s Contemporary George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Study of a Basset Hound by Léon Espinasse (French 19th/20th)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"Portrait of a Basset Hound" Léon Espinasse (French, c. 1870 to 20th century) Watercolor on paper Signed lower left 12 x 9 3/8 (23 ¾ x 21 frame) inches A stunning exercise in comple...
Category

Early 1900s Realist George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

A Standing Leap at a Gate
By James Seymour
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
James Seymour (1702-1752) A Standing Leap at a Gate Mezzotint with hand colouring Image size 10 x 14 in Framed size 16 1/2 x 20 in James Seymour was an English artist renowned for h...
Category

18th Century Old Masters George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Mezzotint

Crows. Contemporary Mixed Media Painting, Abstraction, Birds, Polish art
By Anna Mikke
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary mixed media on board painting by Polish artist Anna Mikke. Birds are next to people favourite artistic subject of Mikke. This piece is in neutral colors, the background ...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Acrylic, Gouache, Board

"Blooming Jaguar", watercolor pencil illustration on watercolor paper
By Oliver Flores
Located in Dallas, TX
"Blooming Jaguar" by Oliver Flores is a whimsical watercolor and charcoal drawing of a beautiful colorful elephant. This artwork comes in a white floater frame, ready to hang. Frame...
Category

2010s Contemporary George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Study of a Pointer Running by Léon Espinasse (French 19th/20th)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"Study of a Pointer Running" Léon Espinasse (French, c. 1870 to 20th century) Watercolor on paper Signed on right 15 x 11 1/2 (28 1/4 x 23 1/2 frame) inches A stunning exercise in ...
Category

Early 1900s Realist George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Cavalier King Charles at Rest- Otto Eerelman (Dutch, 1839-1926)
By Otto Eerelman
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Cavalier King Charles at Rest Otto Eerelman (Dutch, 1839-1926) Watercolor on paper 10 1/2 x 8 (18 x 15 1/2 frame) inches Signed lower right. Gallery label on the reverse "Frans Heerk...
Category

Early 1900s Realist George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Torro Negro, Painting, Pop Art, Street Art, Black bull
By Jay-C
Located in München, BY
Edition 5 Portrait oof a black bull with Basquiat crown JAY-C – the pseudonym of this innovative young artist known for his subversive use of familiar figures and symbols. Using a d...
Category

2010s Pop Art George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Pigment, Archival Pigment

"Bluebird Teapot" Contemporary Surrealist Watercolor Painting
By Thomas Broadbent
Located in New York, NY
This watercolor painting depicts a bird perched on a metal teapot with a handle and spout. The teapot’s surface reflects details of its surroundings. The artwork combines a natural a...
Category

2010s Contemporary George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Six Antique Pith Rice Paper Chinese Watercolour Paintings Birds
Located in London, GB
Six Antique Pith Rice Paper Chinese Watercolour Paintings Birds Chinese, 19th Century Height 33cm, width 42.5cm, depth 1.5cm This captivating set of six Chinese paintings, dati...
Category

19th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Rice Paper

Previously Available Items
George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
By George Edwards
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century George Edwards Animal Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

George Edwards animal paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic George Edwards animal paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by George Edwards in paint, watercolor, engraving and more. Not every interior allows for large George Edwards animal paintings, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Nathan Neven, Thomas Broadbent, and Joseph Broghammer. George Edwards animal paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,650 and tops out at $19,800, while the average work can sell for $1,650.

Still Thinking About These?

All Recently Viewed