Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING -HECTOR'S DOLPHIN

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
Art and Design
Nature
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
c. 1975
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 category
Other
Permissions

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

Copyright 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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