In 1947 Charles came to live on Anglesey. He and his wife Winifred lived in a house called ‘Shorelands’ which looked directly over the Cefni estuary at Malltraeth. The bird paintings produced here have an entirely natural feel, the result of painstaking study, scientific measurement and mastery of technique. He shows an innate understanding of living creatures.
‘Shorelands Summer Diary’ (1952) and ‘Shorelands Winter Diary’ (published posthumously in 1992) do not just show birds, but unrivalled portraits of Anglesey life, often in the medium of scraperboard. We see horse shows, mussel gathering on the Menai Strait, details of thatched hayricks, Malltraeth battered by winter storms and sweltering in a long, hot summer. His pictures are a precious record of a world that has now vanished. After Charles Tunnicliffe’s death, many of his measured drawings and sketchbooks were purchased by the local authority. They are kept at Oriel Ynys Môn near Llangefni.
Further information about C F Tunnicliffe: www.thecharlestunnicliffesociety.co.uk
TunnicliffeCharles F Tunnicliffe, OBE, RA
With a biography by John Smith and a tribute by Kyffin Williams.
Preface and compilation by Robert Williams.
Softcover, 48 pages. Bilingual text. Published 2010
£10 (including postage within UK):
Celebrated as the greatest wildlife artist of them all, Charles Tunnicliffe was a hardworking, modest countryman who inspired countless naturalists of all ages. He made Anglesey his home for more than thirty years, the most productive period of his life.
“I haven’t moved from here, and there is so much subject matter about that there does not seem to be any necessity to go very far”.
The work of C F Tunnicliffe, a man who was much more than a ‘bird artist’ alone, is known throughout the world by many who love nature and the countryside. Amongst other admirers, Peter Scott, the ornithologist, broadcaster and fellow artist, believed that “the verdict of posterity in time to come is likely to rate Charles Tunnicliffe the greatest wildlife artist of the twentieth century”.
Tunnicliffe kept his sketchbooks and measured drawings at home in Anglesey until the end of his life. He could not work without them and always had them by his side for reference. When some were sent away for an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London he felt that he had lost ‘the tools of my trade’.
Those irreplaceable sketchbooks and measured drawings remain on the island and are now kept at Oriel Ynys Môn, the County Council’s gallery and museum. They are at the centre of its Charles Tunnicliffe Collection, which also includes finished watercolour and oil paintings, prints and manuscripts. The original illustrations in the Oriel’s collection include those made for Shorelands Summer Diary – one of the artist’s masterpieces – an evocative record of one glorious season on Anglesey following the move to the island in 1947 with his wife, Winifred.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
… in Spring, in Summer, in Autumn and in Winter
— illustrated by C F Tunnicliffe with texts by E L Grant Watson
Ladybird Books. Hardcover, 52 pages each title. (These are from later editions, not first editions). These four books, long out of print, are in new and unmarked condition and are sold as a set.
The set: £35 (including postage within UK)
We also have a few new copies of another Ladybird book, ‘The Farm’
(first issued in 1958), with illustrations by C F Tunnicliffe and text by M E Gagg.
For enquiries about these books, please use the CONTACT FORM
‘It was the most beautiful day’— the work in Anglesey of the Massey Sisters
Many illustrations, with a biographical essay about the Masseys by John Smith of Oriel Ynys Môn and a description of their work in the context of other botanical illustrators by Maureen Lazarus of the National Museum of Wales.
£12.50 (including postage within UK). Large-format softcover, 40 pages.
Edith (1863-1946) and Gwenddolen Massey (1864-1960) were sisters, members of the Cheshire family of Moston Hall. In 1861 their parents built a mansion in south-east Anglesey called Cornelyn, on the site of Llangoed’s old tithe barnThroughout their lives the sisters enjoyed riding and hunting and exploring the countryside. They were especially interested in gathering and painting flowers. Wild orchids, snowdrops, wild cherry blossom and bluebells were all lovingly recorded and labelled in English, Latin and Welsh. Fortunately, more than five hundred of their fine botanical paintings survived, to be purchased by the local authority in 1982. This nicely produced large-format book contains excellent full size reproductions of a selection of some of their best work.
A Natural History of Anglesey—edited by Dr W Eifion Jones
Hardcover, 194 pages. Anglesey Antiquarian Society 1990, ISBN 0 9500199-6-8
NEW £11.50 (including postage within UK)Including chapters (by specialists in their subjects) on
Anglesey's Weather and Climate, The Geology of Anglesey, The Flora of Anglesey, The Fungi of Anglesey, Insects of Anglesey, Fish and freshwater on Anglesey, Amphibians of Anglesey, Reptiles of Anglesey, The Marine Biology of Anglesey, The Birds of Anglesey, Mammals of Anglesey, and Nature Conservation on Anglesey.
Birds of Anglesey / Adar Môn—by Peter Hope Jones & Paul Whalley
with a chapter on Puffin Island by Richard Arnold.
Illustrated throughout in black & white by Philip Snow and Steve Culley, together with colour maps and a section of 32 colour photographs of Anglesey habitats.
Menter Môn 2004, ISBN 0 9547358-1-1
A bilingual (English/Welsh) large-format paperback. 614 pages, including maps
NEW £27.50 (including first class postage within UK)
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