|
Home
Railroad
Collectibles-All
Railroad
Magazines
RR
Books
Collectible Plates
Information & shopping cart
New
Collector Plate website
Collectible plates LIST only - no photos
Transportation Items Air, Bus paper
Hess Trucks & Ertl die cast items
Books & Magazines
(Non Railroad)
Great Items
- Cottages, Cigarette posters
| |
| Go back to: Catalog> List of Products |
| View Cart |
|
|
SMs Freedom
|
|
Soaring Majesty - "Freedom" by artist Charles frace. First issue in the series.
|
$38.50
|
| Soaring Majesty - "Freedom" by artist Charles frace. First issue in the series.
|
|
|
|
Soaring Majesty - "Freedom" by artist Charles frace. First issue in the series. W. L. George fine china. Production date, 1991. Certificate of Authenticity. Plate size approx 8.25 inches. Suggested Retail $55.00.
Soaring on a thermal draft above a craggy mountainside, a Red-tailed hawk — keen eyed master of the wind — hangs motionless, about to land upon a lofty, spare-branched tree. As it wheels and glides above its forest home, its splendid russet tail glows luminously in the light of the distant sun.
In celebration of this master of the wind, acclaimed wildlife artist Charles Frace presents a vivid portrait of the bird in "Red-Tailed Hawk: Plate Four in the Soaring Majesty series of limited-edition collector's plates, produced under the hallmark of W. S. George.
One of the largest and most familiar hawks. the Red-tailed can be seen throughout North America, soaring above mountains and coasting on updrafts over rolling plains. It hunts from on high, steadfastly hanging immobile in the wind, then swooping swiftly when it sights its prey. Red-tailed hawks feed primarily on rodents, playing an important role in the ecological chain. But small feathered and scaled creatures that turn their backs on a meal-minded hawk also fall within its varied range of prey.
Found coast-to-coast from Alaska to Mexico in wood lots, fields, alpine meadows, prairies and roadsides, the Red-tailed hawk actually seems to have benefitted from civilization. When Northeast America was settled and farmed, the cleared bottomland and remaining hilltop forests provided an ideal habitat for the bird. When vast ribbons of highways swept across the United States, they carved from the forest a patchwork of grassy roadsides that make ideal hunting grounds for hawks. And, as telegraph, then telephone, lines crisscrossed the continent, their well-spaced poles created handy hunting perches.
In meticulously accurate detail, the artist captures the hawk's characteristic black-tipped wings. dark shoulder markings, speckled belly band, and the lustrous reddish-brown tail for which it is named. Mr. Frace shows a keen understanding of the bird's habitat in his choice of landscape. The Red-tailed hawk prefers to nest in the limbs of towering trees, surveying its wide domain from their great heights.
With lifelike precision, the artist captures the hawk in the miracle of flight: its primary wing and colorful tail feathers are outspread to ease landing, and its feet are dropped down, ready to clutch a branch.
In contrast to the scientific accuracy with which the bird is presented. Mr. Frace deliberately portrays the landscape with minimal detail and uses a palette of muted colors. The trees that line the craggy cliffs are rendered in subdued greens, and the hazy mountain top disappears in a mist of pale yellow-grey clouds. Thus, our eyes are irresistibly drawn to the subject of this masterpiece of wildlife art — the dramatically patterned wide-winged hawk with its striking russet tail.
Through the brilliant artistry of Charles Frace, we can enjoy a view of this graceful bird in one of its most remote and most hauntingly beautiful habitats.
As Plate Four in the Soaring Majesty series, "Red Tailed Hawk" is an important addition to this significant wildlife collection — the first ever sponsored by the World Center for Birds of Prey.
|
|
| |
|
Cell phone 206-409-2240