About this artwork

Of Scottish descent but probably never resident in Scotland, Gouw Ferguson specialised in decorative still lifes of dead game. This genre was not common in Scottish art of the period but highly popular in the Netherlands. The painting is unusually large and complex, and may have been commissioned in The Hague where Ferguson lived in the mid-1670s. It has previously been wrongly attributed to Jan Weenix, with whom Ferguson’s work was quite often confused. The painting includes several birds such as a heron and a kingfisher which are no longer regarded as game.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    William Gouw Ferguson (1632/3 - after 1695) Scottish
  • title:
    Still-life: Dead Game
  • date created:
    Dated 1677
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    149.90 x 121.90 cm; Framed: 163.80 x 134.90 x 4.50 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Presented by Frederick John Nettlefold 1947
  • accession number:
    NG 2096
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • glossary:
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William Gouw Ferguson

William Gouw Ferguson