Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING -BEARDED SEAL

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of grey brown seal with long, thick, white whiskers, robust body, small head and square-shaped fore-flippers, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (91).

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-RE1999.374

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

BEARDED SEAL (Erignathus barbatus)
The long and plentiful whiskers ("vibrissae") of this northern hemisphere seal are obviously responsible for its name. Males, which grow larger than females, can reach a length of 12 feet, but 10 feet is more common. Throughout their ice-defined range, bearded seals are hunted for their meat, blubber, and skins, but they have never been the object of a major sealing industry because they are usually solitary animals and do not assemble in large herds the way many other pinnipeds do. Bearded seals are very vocal, and are among the few mammals that actually "sing."
91.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 91 Packing case # 5, 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