Beschreibung:

PEALE, WASHINGTON. Two ink and watercolor drawings of orioles, executed c. 1855. Each 338 x 243 mm. (13 1/4 x 9 5/8 in.), on two separate sheets pasted together, faint mat burn around margins, slight marginal soiling, 2 or 3 short tears or pinholes at edges . The highly finished drawings, which are signed "Wash.n Peale del." show three different species of the American bird family Icteridae (orioles or troopials), all named by the noted Philadelphia ornithologist John Cassin: "Icterus maculi-alatus Cassin", "Icterus auricapillus Cassin" (these two figured together on a branch), and "Icterus Giraudii Cassin". The backgrounds are sketched out in pencil and wash and show semi-tropical landscapes with palm trees. The ink captions and the numbering of the first two birds appear to be in Cassin's hand. Faint pencil notes indicating that the captions are to be printed in italic type show that the drawings were intended for publication, presumably in one of Cassin's many journal articles or contributions to government publications. Washington Peale (1825-1868) was the son of two members of the Peale family: James Peale Jr., son of James Peale who was Charles Willson Peale's younger brother; and Sophonisba Peale, a daughter of Charles Willson Peale's eldest son Raphael. He is known for his landscape paintings. Provenance : John Cassin (1813-1869): a typed note mounted on the back of the original frame states that the drawings remained in the possession of the Cassin family until 1938 Dr. Evan Morton Evans (1870-1955) Daniel Webster Evans (1907-1966). (2)