Antique pair of ivory miniature paintings, signed by William Cruikshank. A really beautiful pair of lovely watercolours on ivory by this well known and respected artist. The subjects of eggs and nests in the landscape are quite typical of his work. These watercolours are in superb condition as having always been protected in their glass frames. Cruikshank, William (1848-1922), painter, was born at Broughty Ferry, Scotland, on December 25, 1848, and was the grand-nephew of George Cruikshank, the illustrator of Charles Dickens's works. He studied art at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, at the Royal Academy, London, and in Paris. His studies in Paris were interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1871 he settled in Canada. He opened a studio in Toronto ; and for twenty-five years he was an instructor in the Central Ontario School of Art, later the Ontario College of Art. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts; and he acquired a considerable reputation as a portrait and figure painter, and as a painter of Canadian scenes. He died at Kansas City, Missouri, on May 19, 1922. Some of his paintings are in the National Gallery at Ottawa. See J. Mavor, William Cruickshank, R.C.A. (Canadian Magazine, 1926). Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., pp. 153-154. The frames 11 inches wide by 10 inches high ( 27.5 cm by 25 cm ), the gilt frames 8.5 inches by 8 inches ( 21.25 cm by 20 cm ) the miniatures 4.75 inches by 3.75 inches ( 11.875 cm by 9.375 cm ).