Hawk attacking A Wild Duck

A vertical varient of a horizontal composition by Oudry, prepared in 1737, the main version in Schwerin (Staatliches Museum Schwerin/Ludwigslust/Güstrow, inv. no. G219). Watercolours of the hawk and of the ducks are attributed to Jacques-Charles Oudry (Oudry Album; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum). This picture is one of a so-called ‘set’ of three attributed to Oudry sold at the baron de Commailles sale in 1855. A further picture from the same group is in the Wallace Collection and is now attributed to Nicolas Desportes (P623). The painting has long been regarded as a work by Jean-Baptiste Oudry or his workshop, the attribution to his son was suggested by Pierre Jacky.