Ammi Phillips - Little Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog

Ammi Phillips (1788-1865) - Little Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog (1835)
USA 32c Stamp Issued 1998
American Folk Art Museum 

This artist was a prolific producer of folk art during his long career.  It is interesting to note that much of his work was not attributed to anyone in particular, until the 1920s when a group of people in Kent, Connecticut, began to collect much of his work, which was distinct, yet similar in nature.  The works became known as "Kent Limner" style up until the late 1960s when the works were finally attributed to Phillips.


Th figures in his paintings are quite distinct - faces are pale and sombre, with an overall mood of malevolence.

John James Audubon - Long Billed Curlew

John James Audubon (1785-1851) - Long Billed Curlew (1834)
USA 32c Stamp Issued 1998
From Birds of America - Amon Carter Museum Texas

Audubon was a French-American and a major twitter (bird watcher).  His epic bird illustrations were compiled into the bird watching bible - Birds of North America - from 1827 to 1839.  The artist hails from a time when naturalists began to observe the natural world and the behaviour of birds, plants and animals - particularly in locations that were unfamiliar to European sensibilities.


The artist's interest in birds in clearly demonstrated through the fine detail that is presented in his plates, not only in terms of the birds themselves, but also of their habitat.  Audubon had a keen interest in birds throughout his life, as he was one of the first people to band birds, in order to understand their longer term living habits.  Charles Darwin quoted from Audubon's works on three occasions in the Origin of Species, and the artist is attributed as discovering 25 new species of bird, during his preparation of the Birds of North America.

Last of the Buffalo - Albert Bierstandt

Last of the Buffalo (1888) - Albert Bierstadt (1830-1932)
USA 32c Stamp Issued in 1998
Painting gifted to Corcoran Gallery of Art Washington DC

Bierstadt was a prolific producer of romanticised art that romanticised the lives of people in the frontiers of western America.  This picture depicts both man and beasts of epic proportions, holding a battle on the wild plains of the west - it is almost like watching a battle in a Roman Colosseum.


This era was quite evocative to many painters who were travelling and making a living in the new frontiers of the new world.  There are some similarities between the landscape works of Bierstadt and Australian artists, such as McCubbin who were exploring new frontiers at the same time - the works were powerful as the landscape and nature impacts on all people in the new frontiers.

Malayan Porcupine - From the Farquhar Collection

Malayan Porcupine - From the Farquhar Collection

Singapore Stamp issued 2002

Here's another intricate sketch of local wildlife that was commissioned by Farquhar during his stay in Singapore and the Malay peninsula during his career as a British commissioner in the early 1800s.


The Malayan Porcupine is still common as it has a wide distribution across South Asia, South East Asia and also into parts of China.  This little fellow has a wide diet, as it is an omnivore, eating tubes, roots and leaves, in addition to feasting on dead carcasses and insects.

Farquhar Collection - Asian Small Clawed Otter

Asian Small Clawed Otter - Sketch and Painting from the Farquhar Collection (circa 1823)

Singapore Stamp Issued 2002

It's no wonder that the paintings commissioned by Farquhar during his time as an official in Singapore and modern day Malaysia were focussed on the diversity of plant and animal life in the region.  This part of Asia was one of mega-diversity, with extensive rainforests across the equator.

This species is now classified as vulnerable, due to widespread habitat loss, hunting and pollution - a sad fact of life for any animals that battle for survival in this part of the world that has developed rapidly.  

Farquhar Collection - Pale Giant Squirrel

Tupal Kerawak - From the Farquhar Collection

Singapore Stamp Issued 2002

This the the second of a series of watercolours from the Farquhar Collection that were made as stamps in Singapore in 2002.  The pale giant squirrel was native to Singapore, although it is now extinct.  Farquhar worked for the East India Company in Malacca, but he constantly pursued an interest in natural history during his time in the South East Asian region.  When he moved from Singapore to Malacca, he also took a large personal collection of animals with him, including wild cats, a cassowary, procupine, numerous monkeys and a tiger.  

This painting is typical of those commissioned in the Farquhar collection - it was probably completed by Chinese painters who were brilliant at providing a magnificent level of detail for these drawings that had a very scientific focus.

Monitor Lizard from the Farquhar Collection - Artist Unknown

Sketches of Lizards from the Farquhar Collection

Singapore Stamps issued 2002

These are another two stamps that were developed from the Farquhar Collection of sketches that were issued by Singapore Post in 2002.  Although Farquhar did not draw these sketches, he did commission the work, as he had a keen interest in natural history.

Farquhar is a comparatively forgotten figure in Singapore history, when compared to Stamford Raffles, even though he administered Singapore in the early stages of its development as a settlement under British control.  Farquhar was also instrumental in preserving historical buildings in Malacca, which had been previously settled by the Portuguese and Dutch (prior to it becoming one of the British Straits Settlements in the early 1800s).  

Napuh from the Farquhar Collection - Artist Unknown

Watercolour from the Farquhar Collection

Singapore Stamp Issued 2002

Napuh - Artist Unknown

Singapore issued a series of stamps that were developed from drawings from the Farquhar Collection.  Over 400 watercolours were commissioned between 1819 and 1823 by William Farquhar, who was an employee of the East India Company and First Resident of Colonial Singapore.  These exquisite and realistic drawings were made by Chinese locals, depicting the local flora and fauna of the region.

The napu is also known as the Greater Mouse Deer.  It inhabits lowland tropical forests and mangrove areas of the south east Asian tropics and is often tamed as a pet by people who live in these regions, although it has disappeared from Singapore nowadays.

George Stubbs - Grey Stallion with Mares and Foals

George Stubbs (1724-1806) - Grey Stallion with Mares and Foals (1768)

Great Britain Stamp 9d Issued 1967

Painting held at the Tate Britain

This fellow was a legend in the art of drawing horses, after having spent 18 dubious months of his life carrying out a large number of dissections of horses, in order to learn about their anatomy.  This painting is one of many under this genre, and it was completed in 1768.

George Stubbs also painted other works of English landscapes and animals, but it is best known for his depictions of horses.  He sometimes painted these animals on a blank background, which was somewhat unusual for the time - his most famous work is probably Whistle Jacket.

Australian Animal Sketches - Charles-Alexandre Lesueur & Ferdinand Bauer

Port Lincoln Parrot by Ferdinand Bauer & Kangaroo by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur 

Australian Stamps issued on 4 April 2002 - Joint issue with France

Flinders-Baudin Bicentenary

On the 8th April 1802, the French Explorer Baudin and the English Explorer Flinders crossed paths at Encounter Bay, off the coast of South Australia.  The two nations were great rivals as they both tried to map and document scientific discoveries throughout the region during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars of 1792-1815.

The artistic sketches of the animals discovered on the Australian continent are depicted on the stamps - the original sketches are held at the Natural History Museums in London and Paris respectively.