This portrait is based on a composition apparently painted in Louisiana in 1822.
The yellow legs, red beak, blue frontal plate, and solid white undertail area of the purple gallinule are distinctive. As it walks over the floating plants in the marsh or along roadside ditches, it can be seen constantly jerking its tail in a pert manner. Audubon wrote of this bird: "I candidly assure you that I experienced a thousand times more pleasure while looking at the Purple Gallinule flirting its tail, while gaily moving over the broad leaves of the waterlily, than I have ever done while silently sitting in the corner of a crowded apartment, gazing on the flutterings of gaudy fans and the wavings of flowering plumes."
Print size: 26 1/4" x 39 1/4"; image size: 18 1/2" x 11 1/2"
Princeton Audubon Limited Edition - produced 1985
Princeton Audubon prints are direct-camera facsimile lithographs of the Robert Havell Jr. (1793-1878) engravings for The Birds of America (1827-38). Princeton's Double elephant Folio prints are issued in limited editions of 500 or 1500 prints. All are numbered and have a seal in the bottom margin to demonstrate their authenticity.
Printed on heavy Mohawk paper that is recommended by the Library of Congress for archives, the paper is specially toned to match the average paper color of the antique originals.
