Beschreibung:

AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES Lithographed proof plate of the "Cross Fox" from Audubon and Bachman's Viviparous Quadrupeds (vol. I, pl. 6), executed c. 1842 or early 1843. Hand-colored lithograph, 500 x 686 mm. (19 3/4 x 27 in.), slight marginal discoloration , by J. T. Bowen after Audubon, unsigned, the caption inscribed IN AUDUBON'S HAND in pencil at bottom: "Canis (Vulpes) fulvus. Desmarets Var. decussatus American Cross Fox. Male", as in the final version, but without the indication that the figure is "7/8 Natural Size", the part and plate number (No. 2, Plate VI) inscribed at lower left. The coloring is lighter in shade and less rich in contrast than that of the final version. PRESENTATION INSCRIPTION FROM AUDUBON to Alexander Culbertson, the Fort Union post agent who accompanied Audubon's 1843 expedition to the Upper Missouri, undertaken to obtain specimens for the Quadrupeds . During the eight-month expedition Audubon painted a portrait of Culbertson and his future Blackfoot wife Natawista; "for want of canvas, Audubon used mattress ticking" (Ford, p. 407; the present wherabouts of the painting is unknown). The inscription, written in pencil in the lower right corner, is dated 11 August 1843, when Audubon was still in Fort Union: either Audubon had brought along a supply of proofs of the already completed plates, or, more likely, the inscription was written several months later and antedated, for Audubon did not return to his home in New York until November. Provenance : Alexander Culbertson (1809-1878), as above Dr. Evan Morton Evans (1870-1955) Daniel Webster Evans (1907-1966).