John James Audubon. Female Turkey. 1827.

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Female Turkey, Plate 6.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
25 3/4" x 38 3/4" sheet, 37" x 49 1/2" framed.

Comparables: Arader, 2019 - $100,000; Arader, 2014 - $91,500.

One of Audubon's Greatest Compositions.

This is one of Audubon's great compositions. Audubon said of this bird, "... Here you have [the male Turkey's] mate, now converted into a kind of anxious parent, leading her young progeny, with measured step and watchful eye, through the intricacies of the forest. The chickens, still covered with down, are running among her feet in pursuit of insects" - Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831.