Archibald Thorburn has been described as 'the greatest ornithological artist ever, with a wonderful gift for placing his bird subjects in harmonious surroundings'. At the age of 20, Thorburn's work was accepted for the Royal Academy Exhibition in London, and in 1887 his reputation was secured by a commission to illustrate Lord Lilford's Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles, for which he painted 268 watercolours.