‘Too safe,’ said nobody standing in front of rust brown. This 1793 bird study from William Lewin’s The Birds of Great Britain gives a quiet wall something to say without raising its voice. The off-white ground keeps the room light, while the rust brown wing and soft green head hold your eye from across the floor. It earns its place on a study wall, a narrow hallway run or above a chest of drawers in a bedroom. Pair it with dark wood, aged leather, brass handles and a chalky painted wall. Don’t crowd it with bright modern graphics or glossy colour photography the delicate pencil linework gets shouted down. On fine-art paper the fine feather detail and handwritten caption stay crisp.