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Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING -HECTOR'S DOLPHIN

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Richard Ellis Collection

Overview

Painting of torpedo-shaped dolphin with rounded dorsal fin, dark-grey and black body with white underbelly, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (27).

Historical information

Collection of 106 of paintings by Richard Ellis that were selected by the Smithsonian Institution to form a traveling exhibit of the marine mammals of the world. The collection was purchased by Perth businessman Kevin Parry in 1985 and donated to Whale World, now known as Albany's Historic Whaling Station.

Details

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-128-RE1999.378a

Item type

Artworks

Themes

Material

Card

Gouache

Metal

Paper

Perspex

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

HECTOR'S DOLPHIN (Cephalorhynchus hectori)
This species, exhibited in New Zealand, is fairly well-known. It is strongly marked in gray, black, and white, and has a fairly large, rounded dorsal fin. While the other species are shy and avoid contact with ships. Hector's dolphin is a known bow-rider, and seems to actively seek out contact with vessels.
27.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 27 Packing case # 3, AWHS accession number

Contextual information

The paintings represent a body of work by well-known American marine conservationist, author, artist and natural historian Richard Ellis (1938-2024).

Keywords

Richard Ellis

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Smithsonian Institution

Marine Mammals

Place made

United States

Year

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Scientific or research significance

Comparative significance criteria

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

Last modified

Wednesday, 15 October, 2025

Completeness

100

Copyright and Reference

Copyright and Reference

Rights category

Other

Permissions

Reproduction or publication with Albany’s Historic Whaling Station permission only.

Rights holder

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

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Painting of torpedo-shaped dolphin with rounded dorsal fin, dark-grey and black body with white underbelly, on blue card with inscription

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