Original Audubon Havell Common Cormorant, Plate 266
Highly desired image. Bold coloring, good condition. Whatman watermark.
Note: Plates ending with the digit 1 or 6 are often more valuable as investments.
- Artist: The drawing was created by John James Audubon, with the original engraving, printing, and coloring by Robert Havell Jr..
- Date: Audubon painted the female and young birds in Labrador in July 1833 and likely added the male in March 1834. The original Havell edition engraving is from around 1835.
- Description: The plate shows a family of cormorants perched precariously on a rocky cliffside. Audubon's writing describes how he came across the birds while crawling along a precipice, noting their affectionate behavior toward one another.
These are sometimes termed the Audubon/Havell prints, Havell being the primary engraver. These prints were produced by using as a basis the watercolor compositions or studies that Audubon accomplished mainly in the open field. These were then taken to London, where Havell's shop was located. Havell, often under the direct supervision of Audubon himself, would then engrave with precision tools a reverse image of the watercolor study onto copper plates, some plates being as large as 27 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches, and others being smaller for the smaller images. When finished, the plates were inked, the paper dampened, and then both were run together through the rollers of a press. The paper was thereafter pulled, or peeled off the plate, resulting in properly oriented black and white image, and then hand colored.
Highly desired image. Bold coloring, good condition. Whatman watermark.
Note: Plates ending with the digit 1 or 6 are often more valuable as investments.
- Artist: The drawing was created by John James Audubon, with the original engraving, printing, and coloring by Robert Havell Jr..
- Date: Audubon painted the female and young birds in Labrador in July 1833 and likely added the male in March 1834. The original Havell edition engraving is from around 1835.
- Description: The plate shows a family of cormorants perched precariously on a rocky cliffside. Audubon's writing describes how he came across the birds while crawling along a precipice, noting their affectionate behavior toward one another.
These are sometimes termed the Audubon/Havell prints, Havell being the primary engraver. These prints were produced by using as a basis the watercolor compositions or studies that Audubon accomplished mainly in the open field. These were then taken to London, where Havell's shop was located. Havell, often under the direct supervision of Audubon himself, would then engrave with precision tools a reverse image of the watercolor study onto copper plates, some plates being as large as 27 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches, and others being smaller for the smaller images. When finished, the plates were inked, the paper dampened, and then both were run together through the rollers of a press. The paper was thereafter pulled, or peeled off the plate, resulting in properly oriented black and white image, and then hand colored.