Suricata suricatta (Meerkats) 1773 - 1780

Robert Jacob Gordon made this image of meerkats using pen and ink with watercolour. Before photography, recording the natural world relied upon the skills of observation and draughtsmanship. Here, line and wash are carefully combined to give a sense of both the meerkat’s form and its colouration. But consider the labour involved in the production of this image. The artist had to source his materials, prepare his pigments, and then render the image with a steady hand. Such images were crucial to the development of natural history as a science, and for the administration of colonial territories. They were tools of empire, feeding a European appetite for knowledge of the wider world. By appreciating the labour and skill involved in their making, we can understand the broader context in which they were produced, and challenge the traditional distinction between scientific illustration and art.