Charles Tunnicliffe OBE RA, drawing of an eagle's eyrie, squared for transfer
Charles Tunnicliffe OBE RA (1901 - 1979) graphite on buff paper, preparatory drawing for the painting 'Eagle's eyrie with a baby and chicks,' sold at Bonhams on 26 July 2004 lot 11 (squared for transfer) studio stamp on verso of picture, Christie's stencil to rear, framed, mounted and behind glass.
Dimensions: 63 cm x 45 cm., with frame 83 cm x 67 cm
Charles Tunnicliffe was one of the foremost wildlife artists of the Twentieth century, displaying his skill in a range of formats and media, including watercolours, oils, etchings and wood engravings.
Tunnicliffe was born in Langley, Cheshire, on 1 December 1901, the only son of the five children of the shoemaker turned tenant farmer, William Tunnicliffe, and his wife, Margaret (née Mitchell), a farmer’s daughter.
He grew up on Lane Ends Farm in nearby Sutton, and was educated at St James’s Church of England School, where teachers fostered his talent for art. He studied briefly at Macclesfield School of Art, in 1915, at the age of 14, before moving to Manchester School of Art, in the same year.
In 1921, he won a Royal Exhibition Scholarship to the Royal College of Art (1921-25); there he met Malcolm Salaman, who helped him launch his career as a printmaker. He would be elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1929, and full member in 1934.
In 1928, Tunnicliffe returned to Cheshire and settled at 34 Nicholson Avenue, Macclesfield. In the following year, he married Belfast-born Winifred Wonnacott, a fellow student at the Royal College of Art, in Whalley Range Methodist Church, Manchester. Becoming a freelance artist, he produced commercial work for firms involved in farming, while also painting and printmaking. From this time, he began to make a highly accurate record of birds of Britain, and to keep detailed sketchbooks.
In 1932, Tunnicliffe made his name with wood engravings to Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter, and so ensured that he would receive many, and regular, commissions for illustrations. In fact he became so popular that he made an increasing use of scraperboard as a convenient substitute for wood.
Through the 1930s, he fully established himself as an artist, exhibiting engravings at the Royal Academy (annually from 1928 to 1970) and holding his first solo show, at the Greatorex Galleries in London (1938). During the Second World War, he also began to write his own books, publishing My Country Book (1942) and Bird Portraiture (1945), while teaching art at Manchester Grammar School. In 1944, he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy.
Following the war, the Tunnicliffes settled at Shorelands, a house on the Caefni Estuary at Malltraeth, near Bodorgan, Anglesey, and remained there for the rest of their lives.
Charles Tunnicliffe OBE RA (1901 - 1979) graphite on buff paper, preparatory drawing for the painting 'Eagle's eyrie with a baby and chicks,' sold at Bonhams on 26 July 2004 lot 11 (squared for transfer) studio stamp on verso of picture, Christie's stencil to rear, framed, mounted and behind glass.
Dimensions: 63 cm x 45 cm., with frame 83 cm x 67 cm
Charles Tunnicliffe was one of the foremost wildlife artists of the Twentieth century, displaying his skill in a range of formats and media, including watercolours, oils, etchings and wood engravings.
Tunnicliffe was born in Langley, Cheshire, on 1 December 1901, the only son of the five children of the shoemaker turned tenant farmer, William Tunnicliffe, and his wife, Margaret (née Mitchell), a farmer’s daughter.
He grew up on Lane Ends Farm in nearby Sutton, and was educated at St James’s Church of England School, where teachers fostered his talent for art. He studied briefly at Macclesfield School of Art, in 1915, at the age of 14, before moving to Manchester School of Art, in the same year.
In 1921, he won a Royal Exhibition Scholarship to the Royal College of Art (1921-25); there he met Malcolm Salaman, who helped him launch his career as a printmaker. He would be elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1929, and full member in 1934.
In 1928, Tunnicliffe returned to Cheshire and settled at 34 Nicholson Avenue, Macclesfield. In the following year, he married Belfast-born Winifred Wonnacott, a fellow student at the Royal College of Art, in Whalley Range Methodist Church, Manchester. Becoming a freelance artist, he produced commercial work for firms involved in farming, while also painting and printmaking. From this time, he began to make a highly accurate record of birds of Britain, and to keep detailed sketchbooks.
In 1932, Tunnicliffe made his name with wood engravings to Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter, and so ensured that he would receive many, and regular, commissions for illustrations. In fact he became so popular that he made an increasing use of scraperboard as a convenient substitute for wood.
Through the 1930s, he fully established himself as an artist, exhibiting engravings at the Royal Academy (annually from 1928 to 1970) and holding his first solo show, at the Greatorex Galleries in London (1938). During the Second World War, he also began to write his own books, publishing My Country Book (1942) and Bird Portraiture (1945), while teaching art at Manchester Grammar School. In 1944, he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy.
Following the war, the Tunnicliffes settled at Shorelands, a house on the Caefni Estuary at Malltraeth, near Bodorgan, Anglesey, and remained there for the rest of their lives.
Charles Tunnicliffe OBE RA (1901 - 1979) graphite on buff paper, preparatory drawing for the painting 'Eagle's eyrie with a baby and chicks,' sold at Bonhams on 26 July 2004 lot 11 (squared for transfer) studio stamp on verso of picture, Christie's stencil to rear, framed, mounted and behind glass.
Dimensions: 63 cm x 45 cm., with frame 83 cm x 67 cm
Charles Tunnicliffe was one of the foremost wildlife artists of the Twentieth century, displaying his skill in a range of formats and media, including watercolours, oils, etchings and wood engravings.
Tunnicliffe was born in Langley, Cheshire, on 1 December 1901, the only son of the five children of the shoemaker turned tenant farmer, William Tunnicliffe, and his wife, Margaret (née Mitchell), a farmer’s daughter.
He grew up on Lane Ends Farm in nearby Sutton, and was educated at St James’s Church of England School, where teachers fostered his talent for art. He studied briefly at Macclesfield School of Art, in 1915, at the age of 14, before moving to Manchester School of Art, in the same year.
In 1921, he won a Royal Exhibition Scholarship to the Royal College of Art (1921-25); there he met Malcolm Salaman, who helped him launch his career as a printmaker. He would be elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1929, and full member in 1934.
In 1928, Tunnicliffe returned to Cheshire and settled at 34 Nicholson Avenue, Macclesfield. In the following year, he married Belfast-born Winifred Wonnacott, a fellow student at the Royal College of Art, in Whalley Range Methodist Church, Manchester. Becoming a freelance artist, he produced commercial work for firms involved in farming, while also painting and printmaking. From this time, he began to make a highly accurate record of birds of Britain, and to keep detailed sketchbooks.
In 1932, Tunnicliffe made his name with wood engravings to Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter, and so ensured that he would receive many, and regular, commissions for illustrations. In fact he became so popular that he made an increasing use of scraperboard as a convenient substitute for wood.
Through the 1930s, he fully established himself as an artist, exhibiting engravings at the Royal Academy (annually from 1928 to 1970) and holding his first solo show, at the Greatorex Galleries in London (1938). During the Second World War, he also began to write his own books, publishing My Country Book (1942) and Bird Portraiture (1945), while teaching art at Manchester Grammar School. In 1944, he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy.
Following the war, the Tunnicliffes settled at Shorelands, a house on the Caefni Estuary at Malltraeth, near Bodorgan, Anglesey, and remained there for the rest of their lives.