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Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - COMMERSON'S DOLPHIN

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Richard Ellis Collection

Overview

Painting of black and white dolphin with rounded dorsal fin, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (24.)

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-RE1999.341

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

COMMERSON'S DOLPHIN (Cephalorhynchus commersonii)
The genus Cephalorhynchus ("head-beak"; snout with no appreciable bleak) contains four species, all of which are small and relatively inconspicuous. Commerson's dolphin is strongly marked, and has a characteristically rounded dorsal fin. it is restricted to the Southern Ocean, and has been most commonly sighted off the coast of southern South America. These small (5 1/2-foot) animals have occasionally been captured for exhibition in Europe and North America.
24.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 24 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

Smithsonian Institution

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

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

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 black and white dolphin with rounded dorsal fin on blue card with inscription.

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