Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - BAIKAL SEAL

« Prev Item Next Item »

Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of a plump-bodied seal, dark gray, black spotted coat on its upper side and yellowish tinge on the underside, wide flippers, and prominent white vibrissae (whiskers); gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (87).

Historical information

(on recto bot c) [BAIKAL SEAL/.../...large numbers /87.] This print has been reframed & was originally in a frame of 3 prints. Was RE.1999.307.

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-RE1999.447

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

BAIKAL SEAL (Pusa sibirica)

The Baikal seal is found only in Lake Baikal, a 400-mile-long lake in Siberia, some 1200 miles from the sea. It is the only completely freshwater seal (The Caspian Sea, which also has a resident subspecies of Pusa, is partially salty). This species is similar in size and shape to the ringed seal, but its coat is usually brown or yellowish, without rings or spots. They are hunted by the Siberian natives in comparatively large numbers.
87.

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