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Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - GINKO TOOTHED WHALE

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Richard Ellis Collection

Overview

Painting of blue-black whale with grey spots near abdomen and protruding tooth half-way along jaw length, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (69.)

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-RE1999.365

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

GINKO-TOOTHED WHALE (Mesoplodon ginkgodens)
This is one of the "newest" species of beaked whales, described for the first time in 1958, offshore near Tokyo. The male has two teeth in the lower jaw that look like the leaves of the ginkgo tree. It is black in color, with the usual unexplained scars and scratches.
69.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 69 Packing case # 4, 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 blue-black whale with grey spots near abdomen and protruding tooth half-way along jaw length, on blue card with inscription.

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