Stone Paints Flamingo – Sight Unseen
- Although Sarah Stone (1760-1844) never visited America and never saw a live flamingo, her watercolor of this flamingo is one of the most stylish and interesting paintings of a flamingo in existence.
Sarah was hired by Sir Aston Lever to paint the inventory of his extensive private museum in London. This wealthy patron collected an enormous amount of botanical and zoological material from British expeditions from America, Australia, Africa, and especially from Captain Cook’s round-the-world voyages.
She began painting the collection in 1777 when she was only 17 years old and painted continuously until the museum was auctioned off in 1808. She painted over 1,000 watercolors of birds, mammals, reptiles, and shells.
The closing of England’s largest private museum was a tragedy as most of the collection has been dispersed and lost for further scientific inquires. The loss of the original specimens have made Sarah’s watercolors even more important as often they are the only remaining records of extinct species. Her favorite subjects were birds, and this very colorful and animated flamingo is considered one of her best.
Sarah was the fourth painter to capture a flamingo on paper. The first was painted by the Governor of Roanoke and the next by Mark Catesby (1679-1749), an English nobleman and explorer.
Alexander Wilson — the father of American ornithology — was the third to paint the flamingo, ahead of John James Audubon. More details about that in “Wilson beat Audubon to the Birds.”
Inquire [email protected] for pricing on this Whooping Crane print by Alexander Wilson; available framed or unframed.
Alexander Wilson discovered nearly 50 new species of birds, and more birds are named in his honor than any other person in the world: Wilson’s Warbler, Wilson’s Plover, Wilson’s Phalarope, Wilson’s Petrel, Wilson’s Snipe, Wilson’s Tern, and Wilson’s Thrush.
It was Wilson who published the first book in America of America’s birds in beautiful hand-colored lithographs. Dennis B. Williams Rare and Antique Bird Prints is liquidating the last of its collection.
Information on available prints is available on their Member Page. Or email [email protected].
