The picture features two gun dogs, with the dog in the foreground holding a dead ptarmigan in its mouth. As these game birds are only found in the UK in the highest mountains in the Scottish Highlands, the location of the scene is most likely to be in the Cairngorms, a few miles south of Inverness.

Ansdell trained as a painter at Liverpool Academy of Art and exhibited at the Royal Academy in London every year from 1836 until his death in 1885. Although he lived in London, he visited Scotland every summer, often accompanying shooting parties. His accomplished paintings of landscapes and animals were popular with hunting and shooting people.

On the Moors is the first work by the artist to enter a public institution in Scotland, and will be the first painting in the gallery to reflect the local history and culture of field sports.

Provenance

Mr Boyd was the owner of this painting from 1938 until his death in February 2019. He had first contacted the Museum in 2016 to ask if we were interested in acquiring it because it was his wish that the painting stayed local to where he