A delightful and highly characteristic oil painting by the celebrated British animal painter Edgar Hunt, depicting a lively group of farmyard birds gathered around a tipped metal pail spilling cabbage leaves onto the ground. At the centre of the composition a colourful cockerel and several hens peck eagerly at the scattered vegetables, accompanied by a pair of ducks, while another hen stands slightly apart observing the scene.The birds are rendered with Hunt’s typical care and naturalism, each figure beautifully painted with richly coloured plumage and subtle tonal modelling. The rustic farmyard setting, with timber buildings behind and an open landscape glimpsed in the distance, provides a warm and atmospheric backdrop to the composition.Signed E. Hunt and dated 1923 to the lower right, the title “Meal Time” appearing to the mount beneath.Presented in a decorative moulded gilt frame which complements the warm palette of the painting.A particularly attractive example of...