PAINTINGS - (a) HARBOR PORPOISE (b) VAQUITA
c. 19752 paintings in single framed work (a) Harbor porpoise - stout, dark gray back, lighter gray/ white underside, with distinctive triangular dorsal fin and rounded head (38.) (b) Vaquita - small, robust bodied, dark grey with lighter gray, white underbelly, and black patch around lips, resembling a "smile", triangular dorsal fin and rounded head (39.); gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription.
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.
(on verso Smithsonian label checklist # 38, 39, Packing case # c.1 (Full details on Data Record Sheet) These prints have been split up & reframed (c) (d) is now RE.1999.443.a.b Now nothing on verso.
Details
Details
HARBOR PORPOISE (Phocoena phocoena)
The name "porpoise" is derived from the Latin porcus pisces, ("pig-fish"). Phocoena (pronounced fo-SEEN-a) is the commonest cetacean in European waters, and is also found in the inshore waters of the North Pacific. The harbor porpoise is commonly encountered in river mouths, and has even been found upstream in various European rivers, including the Seine, the Thames, and the Danube. This is among the smallest of the oceanic porpoises, rarely reaching a length of 5 feet, and mature animals usually weigh less than 130 pounds. Harbor porpoises strand frequently in Europe and North America, and the species has the dubious distinction of being the most frequent strander on British coasts, with a total of 779 such events 1913-77.
VAQUITA (Phocoena simus)
Also know as the cochito, this close relative of the harbor porpoise is known only from the Gulf of California, between Baja and mainland Mexico. It is even smaller than the harbor porpoise, and may be the smallest of all cetaceans. Mature individuals have been measured at 4½ feet. It is similar in coloration to the harbor porpoise, although the mouth -to-flipper stripe is not as distinct, and the dorsal fin is said to be more sharply curved. Because of pressure by Mexican shark fishermen, this little-known species is believed to be seriously endangered.
39.
Original Verso Smithsonian label checklist # 38, 39,Packing case # 2. Reframed - No Verso
The paintings represent a body of work by well-known American marine conservationist, author, artist and natural historian Richard Ellis (1938-2024).
Copyright and Reference
Copyright and Reference
Albany's Historic Whaling Station
Albany's Historic Whaling Station
Other items by Richard Ellis
- PAINTING - CHINESE RIVER DOLPHIN
- PAINTINGS - (a) DUSKY DOLPHIN & (b) PEALE'S DOLPHIN
- PAINTING - SEI WHALE
- PAINTINGS - (a) BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALE (b) GOOSEBEAK WHALE
- PAINTING -BLACK DOLPHIN
- PAINTING - BAIKAL SEAL
- PAINTING - BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
- PAINTING - ROSS SEAL
- PAINTING - IRRAWADDY RIVER DOLPHIN
- PAINTINGS - (a)Longfin Pilot Whale (b)Shortfin Pilot Whale
- PAINTING - STRAP-TOOTHED WHALE
- PAINTINGS - (a)SPECTACLED PORPOISE (b)BURMEISTER'S PORPOISE
More items like this
Other items from Albany's Historic Whaling Station
- PAINTINGS (a) NORTHERN RIGHT DOLPHIN (b)SOUTHERN RIGHT DOLPHIN
- PAINTING - (a) INDO-PACIFIC HUMPBACK DOLPHIN & (b) ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHIN
- PAINTING - DENSE-BEAKED WHALE
- PAINTING - GRAY WHALE
- PAINTINGS - (a)PYGMY SPERM WHALE (b)DWARF SPERM WHALE
- PAINTING - SOWERBY`S BEAKED WHALE
- PAINTING -PYGMY KILLER WHALE
- PAINTINGS - (a)TRUE'S BEAKED WHALE (b) GULFSTREAM BEAKED WHALE
- PAINTINGS - (a) FIN WHALE & (b)BLUE WHALE
- PAINTINGS - (a) RIGHT WHALE & (b) BOWHEAD WHALE
- PAINTING - HUMPBACK WHALE
- PAINTING - SPERM WHALE