Audubon Engraving: Cat Bird

Cat Bird, Plate CXXVII, Set Elephant Folio Engraving from John James Audubon’s The Birds of America.  Drawn in Louisiana or Mississippi in 1822, background by Joseph Mason.  Engraved, printed, and hand-coloured by Robert Havell, London, on J. Whatman watermarked wove paper.  Custom matted and framed, sight size:  12″ x 19″, framed size 28″ x 41″.

Audubon realized early on that, in order to complete his monumental task, he would need the help of additional artists for the botanical elements and the landscapes.  For his two-year trip down the Mississippi River (1820-1822), he took along his talented 13-year old pupil Joseph Mason to draw the habitats.  Mason contributed the blackberry bush on which the cat birds are perched.