SILVER IN COMBINATION WITH BRONZE AND COPPER

REED & BARTON, SILVERSMITHS

In the autumn of 1970 Reed & Barton, Silversmiths, of Taunton, Mass., offered for sale an ii-inch plate with the reproduction of an Audubon Double Elephant folio bird on it, the Pine Siskin from Plate I8o, the first in a series, handcrafted in the firm's patented "Damascene" process. The second of the series, the Redshouldered Hawk, reproduced from Audubon's Plate 56, was issued in 1971 and the third, that of the Stilt Sandpiper, from Audubon's Plate 344, in 1972. The Red Cardinal from his Plate 159 is the 1973 reproduction. It is planned to issue the following Audubon plates in future editions:
Plate Plate
168 Fork-tailed Flycatcher 382 Sharp-tailed Grouse
336 Yellow-crowned Night Heron 369 Bay Breasted Warbler
The edition of each plate is limited to 5,000.

SILVER-INGOT COLLECTION
THE RARE AND ENDANGERED BIRDS
SILVER-INGOT SERIES
In September of 1973 the National Audubon Society offered to its members a Limited Edition collector's item, the Rare and Endangered Birds Silver-Ingot Series. The designer of the series, D. George Andrew Woloch, began with Audubon's depiction of the twelve birds chosen and then fashioned each into an example of the sculptor's art. Each one-ounce, pure .999 fine silver ingot will be mounted with an authorized reproduction of the original John James Audubon painting on which the sculpture was based. The unit price of each framed reproduction with ingot was $29.50 (unframed $15.5o), and the society stated that only io,ooo first edition sets would be minted.
The following Audubon prints were selected for reproduction:

Plate
16 Peregrine Falcon Great-footed Hawk
66 Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Ivory-billed Woodpecker
81 Osprey Fish Hawk
126 Bald Eagle White-headed Eagle
185 Bachman's Warbler Bachman's Warbler
186 Greater Prairie Chicken Pinnated Grous
208 Eskimo Curlew Esquimaux Curlew
226 Whooping Crane Hooping Crane
251 Brown Pelican Brown Pelican
261 Sandhill Crane Hooping Crane
281 Great White Heron Great White Heron
426 California Condor Californian Vulture

REPRODUCTIONS ON CHINA
ORIGINAL AUDUBON PAINTINGS
Among the historic landmarks in Natchez, Miss., is Green Leaves, the home of Mrs. Melchior Beltzhoover, which was built prior to the War of 1812. One of the treasures of the home is a set of china with a different bird or flower on each plate, reputed to have been painted by Audubon.
Audubon had visited Natchez the last week of 1820 while en route to New Orleans and again for a longer period in the late spring and summer of 1823. On the latter occasion both he and his son were seriously ill. It has not been possible to find a reference to Audubon's having painted any china while in Natchez. That at Green Leaves has been examined by the present author who found the style of the painted birds and flowers to be radically different from that employed in the drawings of the Birds of America.

In 1959 the author was advised by the curator of Villa Louis, at Prairie du Chien, Wis., that in the museum there were, in addition to the Octavo edition of Audubon's Birds of America, ten plates painted by the Naturalist. These have not been examined by the author.

DOUBLE ELEPHANT FOLIO
Reproductions from the prints of the Double Elephant folio on china have been produced in England by the firm of William Adams & Sons, Potters Ltd., Tunstall.
In the mid-I93os the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company was commissioned to produce a set of twenty-four service plates, each bearing a subject selected from Audubon's Birds of America "in observance of the centenary of this great work," the 87 numbers of which had been issued as completed between 1826 and 1838. The idea for this "collector's set" of commemorative plates originated with the English publishing house of A. C. & H. W. Dickins. Each subject portrayed on the individual plates was painted by hand "within a border of two tones of celadon green enriched with gold, the Worcester factory having revived for this purpose the long disused process of `honey gilding,' in which the powdered gold is mixed with beeswax and honey." Only a small number of sets were produced, for each plate required II firings and took 3o days to complete. When the stipulated number of sets had been made, the Worcester factory destroyed the original design models to ensure that no more would be produced.

The author has in his possession eight cups and saucers and eight plates on which there are reproductions of the following Audubon birds:

Plate Plate
17 Columba carolinensis
Carolina Turtle Dove 79 Tyrannus tyrannus
Kingbird
18 Thryomanes Bewicki
Bewick's Wren 114 Zonotrichia leucophrys
White Crowned Sparrow
43 Bombycilla carolinensis
Cedar Bird 168 Muscivora tyranus
Forked-tailed Flycatcher
62 Columba migratoria
Passenger Pigeon 367 Columba fasciata
Band-tailed Pigeon

On each cup and saucer is found a seal in the form of a crown, the letter "A," and the name, Alfred Meakin England, followed by the Audubon plate number and Latin name of bird, and the statement, "Reproduced from the Elephant Folio Edition of Audubon's Birds of America endorsed by National Audubon Society, New York," followed by Audubon's name of the bird figured.

Inquiry at the National Audubon Society regarding these brought the following information:

All I can find out here is that our Service Department at one time, about five or so years ago, sold some Meakin dinnerware of the type you describe. Subsequently Meakin discontinued that line. We never did have their address as this dinnerware was purchased for us through Mr. Donald Miller of Maddock & Miller, 129 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Continued
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