John James Audubon
Canada Goose
From $80
This is a hand-coloured engraving, and a careless copy turns the white swan grey and the sheet dirty. Our Audubon Trumpeter Swan print was graded beside the original plate, so the feathers stay white, the water keeps its deep greens and the paper keeps its warm cream.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
18x12 inch, 24x16 inch, 30x20 inch, 36x24 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its wide shape suits a living room, a bedroom or a study, above a sofa or a bed. The white, cream and deep greens look lovely with navy, sage and natural oak, and a natural wood or black frame suits it.
About the painting
Trumpeter Swan by John James Audubon
The Ohio, winters
John James Audubon set out to paint every bird in America, life-size. In the winters when he lived at Henderson, Kentucky, the Trumpeter Swans came down to the ponds along the Ohio at the end of October, the biggest of all American water birds.
Trumpeter
Audubon once caught a wounded male and kept it in his garden for over two years. The family named it Trumpeter. It came to his wife’s call for bread, chased the dogs, the turkey and the children, and ran for the river whenever the gate was left open. One rainy night it did, and it was never seen again.
The Birds of America
In this plate the adult swan glides on dark green water, its neck curved down to the surface. Robert Havell engraved it in London and coloured it by hand, and it was issued in 1838, the last year of The Birds of America.
Read the story
John James Audubon once kept a wild swan in his garden. One rainy night, it walked out of the gate for good.
Henderson, Kentucky, a town on the Ohio River, where Audubon keeps a store and lives with his wife and young children.
Each October the Trumpeter Swans come down to the river ponds. The biggest he ever measured was nearly ten feet across the wings.
One day he catches a male with a wounded wing, and carries it nearly two miles home, because he knows it will please his family.
He turns it loose in the garden, and the family name it Trumpeter.
At first it is shy. Then it learns to come when his wife calls, and takes bread from her hand.
Soon it is chasing the turkey, the dogs, the children and the servants, and whenever the gate is open, it heads for the river.
Two years go by. Then, one dark and rainy night, a servant leaves the gate open, and Trumpeter is never heard of again.
Years before, by the frozen Mississippi, he had watched hundreds of wild swans land on the ice at dusk, and take off again with a sound like muffled drums.
In 1838, in London, his swan is engraved life-size for The Birds of America.
Here it glides on dark green water, its long neck curved down to the surface.
Look at it, and think of the one that walked out of the gate.
Trumpeter Swan. John James Audubon, 1838.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
