Havell's Tern

Artist John James Audubon (American, 1785 - 1851)

Lithographer John T. Bowen (American, 1801 - 1856)

Datec. 1839

Mediumlithograph on white wove paper, hand-colored

DimensionsOctavo: 10 7/8 × 6 15/16 inches (27.6 × 17.6 cm)

Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965

Object number11.1.7.191

ClassificationsPrints

Label TextHavell’s Tern was one of the few birds that John James Audubon drew from a Texas specimen. He had painted a version of the bird earlier in his career. He was not satisfied with that effort. After his 1837 trip to Texas, he completed the painting of the Havell's Tern. The engraving based on that painting was included in the double elephant folio edition of The Birds of America. This print is a pattern plate for Audubon’s octavo edition of The Birds of America. Pattern plates were the guides for the colorists to add colors by hand.

ProvenancePurchased September 11, 1957 through (Nada Kramar, Washington, D.C.) by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art

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