Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - SOWERBY`S BEAKED WHALE

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of dark blue grey whale with small sized snout and dorsal fin, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (74).

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

Registration number

cwa-org-128-RE1999.326

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

SOWERBY'S BEAKED WHALE ( Mesoplodon bidens)
Like most of the other beaked whales, Mesoplodon bidens does not have a median notch in the tail fin. This is a deep-water, North Atlantic species and has been found stranded in Norway, the British Isles, Newfoundland, and Massachusetts. It was the first Mesoplodon to be described, from a specimen that stranded in Scotland in 1800.
74.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 74 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

Statement of significance

Rarity:106 of these paintings were selected by the Smithsonian Institution to form a traveling exhibit of the marine mammals of the world. All these paintings were bought by Kevin Parry and donated to Whale World

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

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