Archibald Thorburn

Archibald Thorburn (1860 - 1935) was a Scottish bird illustrator. Thorburn provided the illustrations for Thomas Coward's The Birds of the British Isles and their eggs (1920-25). He was the son of Robert Thorburn, portrait miniaturist to Queen Victoria. He studied in London under the guidance of Joseph Wolf. He was commissioned in 1887 to illustrate Lord Lilford's Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles, for which he painted some 268 watercolours, that established his reputation. He illustrated numerous sporting and natural history books, including his own. He taught Otto Murray Dixon and Philip Rickman (both in Nature in Art's collection).