The Laughing Gull (Larus articilla)

published 1731-1743

Mark Catesby

Associated Names
Mark Catesby

Artist, English, 1679 - 1749

The image shows a bird perched on a textured rock by the sea. The bird has a dark head, grey body, slender legs with webbed feet, an open beak with a vibrant orange interior, and long, overlapping tail feathers. There is water visible at the bottom left of the rock.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and engraving with hand coloring on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green

  • Dimensions

    plate: 26.2 x 34.3 cm (10 5/16 x 13 1/2 in.)
    sheet: 35.9 x 51.6 cm (14 1/8 x 20 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1991.163.41

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Natural History, Vol. vol.1, no. 89

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green, Virginia; gift to NGA, 1991.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1771

  • Catesby, Mark. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. London: 1771.

Inscriptions

lower right in plate (on rock): MC; lower right in plate: Larus &c.; upper right in plate: T 89

Watermarks

fleur-de-lis in shield surmounted by crown

Wikidata ID

Q74894810

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