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Common Whale - Balaena Mysticetus
Named collection: Allan Forbes Collection
Object type: print
Maker: unknown
Place made: unknown
Date made: 1800-1899
Materials: ink; paper; color wash
Measurements: 11 1/2 in x 12 3/4 in
Nomenclature: natural history
Classification: whales
Hand-colored print showing a beached whale on a piece of ice, side view; behind it, another whale sounds, its tail in the air, as a harpooneersman in a pursuing whaleboat prepares to throw his weapon. In the background are an iceberg, a sailing ship, and a rising or setting sun. Below the image is printed the title and the beginning of a paragraph about the whale, which has been cut off: "The usual length of the Common Whale is from 50 to 60 or 65 ft., and its great circumference from 30 to 40 ft. The head is very large being about 16 or 17 feet long, by 10 or 12 broad, and measuring about one-third of [end of line; rest is cut off]"
AF-NB-0071