Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - RIBBON SEAL

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of 2 brown seals with pinky-brown 'striped' ribbons encircling the neck, each fore flipper, and lower body, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (88).

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-RE1999.372

Item type

Artworks

Themes

Art and Design

Nature

Material

Card

Gouache

Metal

Paper

Perspex

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

RIBBON SEAL (Histriophoca fasciata)
Probably the most strikingly colored of all the pinnipeds, the ringed seal is found only in the Arctic North Pacific, from Alaska to northern Japan. They are usually creatures of the ice, and show a remarkable indifference to the approach of predators - including polar bears, arctic foxes, and humans. After a couple of weeks the original white coat is shed and the animals begin to acquire the broad "ribbons" that characterize the adult. They are hunted by Siberian sealers and Eskimos.
88.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 88 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