John James Audubon

Brown Pelican /// Natural History Ornithology Bird Art John James Audubon Sea

1840-1844

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Arctic Fox" (Plate 121, No. 25) Portfolio: The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, Imperial Bow...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Roseate Spoonbill" (Plate 362, No. 73) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Framing: Recently framed in a gold and green ornate moulding with 100% cotton rag matting and Museum Glass Framed size: 14.57" x 16" Sheet size: 6.69" x 10.5" Image size: 5" x 7.63" Condition: Minor toning and faint offsetting to sheet. In otherwise excellent condition with strong colors Very rare The "Roseate Spoonbill" is one of the very top, absolute most desirable birds from Audubon's famous "Birds of America" series Notes: Provenance: private collection - San Francisco, CA. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. The sheet interestingly still retains two of its original binding strings across its bottom edge. Based on a composition painted in Florida in 1831 or 1832. "This beautiful and singular bird" was prized for its wings and tail feathers which were made into fans in St. Augustine. The roseate spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. The roseate spoonbill's pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin, like the American flamingo. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

'1. 2. Helicopis acis 3. Zeonia chorinceus' Late 19th century colour lithograph of butterflies.

'Chrysiridia madagascarensis' Late 19th century colour lithograph of butterflies.