Chipping Sparrow. Fringilla socialis [current name: Chipping Sparrow. Spizella passerina], from "The Birds of America," plate CIV
This print from Audubon's The Birds of America represents an adult male in breeding plumage with reddish-brown back and bluish-green feathers on the sides of the head and towards the tail. The wing feathers are brown, black and white, the tip of tail brown and black. The bird perches on a forked branch of a Black Locust tree, looking right and angled slightly downward. A new shoot from the branch has produced leaves and a cluster of white blossoms that falls near the bird's tail. The artist may have seen and painted the related bird in Louisiana in1821.
Audubon placed the birds in his prints amongst plants native to their habitats, a significant departure from traditional natural history drawing practice. Also innovative was to often show birds in movement and, when more than one appear, from different points of view to display more of their plumage. Engraved text below gives English vernacular names for the birds followed by Latin, with plants identified in the same way. Full sets of The Birds of America contain 435 life-sized depictions. Over thirteen years, subscribers periodically received sets of five prints (each set containing images of two small, one medium sized and one large bird species). Engraved numbers at upper left and right identify the set number and individual plate number. Double elephant-folio sized sheets of paper were used, no matter the size of the printing plate, to allow the sets to be bound together once complete. Fewer than two hundred full sets were produced. When later divided, previous owners of individual prints often trimmed the margins. This work retains its original margins.
Audubon placed the birds in his prints amongst plants native to their habitats, a significant departure from traditional natural history drawing practice. Also innovative was to often show birds in movement and, when more than one appear, from different points of view to display more of their plumage. Engraved text below gives English vernacular names for the birds followed by Latin, with plants identified in the same way. Full sets of The Birds of America contain 435 life-sized depictions. Over thirteen years, subscribers periodically received sets of five prints (each set containing images of two small, one medium sized and one large bird species). Engraved numbers at upper left and right identify the set number and individual plate number. Double elephant-folio sized sheets of paper were used, no matter the size of the printing plate, to allow the sets to be bound together once complete. Fewer than two hundred full sets were produced. When later divided, previous owners of individual prints often trimmed the margins. This work retains its original margins.
Artwork Details
- Title: Chipping Sparrow. Fringilla socialis [current name: Chipping Sparrow. Spizella passerina], from "The Birds of America," plate CIV
- Artist: After John James Audubon (American (born Haiti), Les Cayes (Saint-Domingue) 1785–1851 New York)
- Etcher: Etched and aquatinted by Robert Havell Jr. (American (born England), Reading 1793–1878 Tarrytown, New York)
- Printer: Robert Havell Jr. (American (born England), Reading 1793–1878 Tarrytown, New York)
- Publisher: John James Audubon (American (born Haiti), Les Cayes (Saint-Domingue) 1785–1851 New York)
- Date: ca. 1830
- Medium: Hand-colored etching, aquatint and engraving
- Dimensions: Plate: 19 1/2 × 12 1/4 in. (49.5 × 31.1 cm)
Sheet: 38 7/8 × 25 9/16 in. (98.7 × 65 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Michael and Elyn Stubblefield, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.587.1
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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John James Audubon
1829
John James Audubon
1830
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1830
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