JJA wrote in the Ornithological Biography that he had never seen this western duck and, therefore, “I have introduced a figure of it taken by my son John Woodhouse, from a beautiful specimen in the Museum of Norwich, in England.” The watercolor of the standing bird after a stuffed specimen (1863.18.37) was predominantly by JJA’s son. After studying his son’s work, with great imagination and knowledge, he animated the bird in his own watercolor of the species (1863.17.429). Then, he instructed Havell to combine the two in the engraving (Figure 1), placing the more horizontal adult bird in the foreground with the head and neck of the more vertically positioned juvenile behind the grass at the right.
John James Audubon (1785–1851)
Steller’s Eider (Polysticta stelleri), Study for Havell pl. 429, ca. 1836–38 VULNERABLE
Watercolor, graphite, and gouache with touches of black chalk and black ink on paper, laid on card
Purchased for the Society by public subscription from Mrs. John J. Audubon, 1863.17.429
[with John Woodhouse Audubon]
John Woodhouse Audubon (1812–1862)
Steller’s Eider (Polysticta stelleri), Study for Havell pl. 429, ca. 1836–38 VULNERABLE
Watercolor, graphite, pastel, and black ink with scratching out on paper, laid on card
Purchased for the Society by public subscription from Mrs. John J. Audubon, 1863.18.37
Figure 1. Robert Havell Jr. after John James Audubon, Plate 429, The Birds of America
(1827–38), N-YHS, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections
