Red-shouldered Hawk Audubon print, plate 51, from Audubon's Birds of America
Red-shouldered Hawk, plate 56
26 1/4 x 39 1/4; Condition: Mint
“Of all the full-size facsimiles of Audubon's prints, those from Princeton Audubon Ltd. come the closest in appearance and quality to the originals. Combining this with their very reasonable cost makes Princeton Audubon facsimiles winners for those looking to acquire some of the most dramatic American natural history images ever produced." - Chris Lane, Philadelphia Print Shop West, appraiser on Antiques Roadshow.
Of our prints, William Steiner, author of Audubon Prints: A Collector’s Guide To Every Edition wrote, “True prints, true colors, incredible detail. Princetons are simply the finest Audubon facsimiles ever made!”
Princetons began with the purchase of the actual originals which were physically used in the production process. A giant camera with film the same size as the print took a direct-capture picture of the original, and this exact image was transferred directly to the metal printing plates. There are no other Audubon facsimiles which match the quality of Princeton prints.
Our prints have this embossed seal at the lower right of the paper ...
... and are pencil-numbered in the lower left under the printed script.
Printing specifications ...
Princeton Audubon Double Elephant Edition •Double elephant (life size - 26 1/4 x 39 1/4) •Limited edition of 1500. •Pencil-numbered and embossed with the Princeton Audubon Limited seal. •Up to 11 color plates used. •Specially developed fade-proof inks. Absolute color fidelity to the actual original. •Printed on a 300 line. •Very heavy archival paper which is recommended by the Library of Congress for archives and is specially toned to match the actual color of the antique originals. •Registered to purchaser. •As permanently displayed at The Royal Society of London, to which Audubon belonged as a Fellow.
About the image itself ...
Audubon studied the habits of the pair of hawks represented here over a period of three years, and this devotion resulted in one of the finest works he did in Louisiana before sailing to Liverpool in 1826. "The mutual attachment of the male and the female continues during life," Audubon wrote. "They usually hunt in pairs during the whole year; and although they built a new nest every spring, they are fond of resorting to the same parts of the woods for that purpose."
Although it has been known as the "big chicken hawk," and "hen hawk," only a small percentage of the red-shouldered hawk's food is made up of poultry. In truth, the bird is very valuable to the farmer, with ninety percent of its prey made up of mammals and insects injurious to his crops.