" MERGANSER DUCKLING - BRONZE "
Robert Bateman
250 s/n Bronze
4" high
$3695
" This
sculpture was made as a reference for my painting, Merganser
Family in Hiding.
I had no photographic
reference, and museum specimens of baby birds leave
something to be desired. Typical
museum specimens are smooth and elongated
so that they
can fit into storage trays. Baby
waterfowl are far from shapeless;
they are very sculptural
in form. Feathers do not disguise
the various pieces of
their anatomy. The coating of fuzz, if anything, exaggerates
the concave and
convex forms. The
living bird is a little work of art of its own. Mergansers are,
of course, a member of the duck
family. The main difference between
mergansers and other ducks is the elongated bill with
a slightly crooked tip and
a row of teeth along the
sides. This makes it an admirable
fish feeder.
Virtually every
summer since I was eight years old, I have been visiting
a
particular lake in north country. The main breeding duck in the area is the
American
merganser. Each summer we look
forward to the little parade of
mothers and young making
their way around the shoreline. They
are feeding
on baby fish, which have conveniently timed
their hatching to inadvertently aid
in the merganser’s
growth. At the first sign of
danger, the mother makes a
low noise, and the whole
family goes into hiding. As a
boy, I sometimes did
something I would now forbid my
children to do. I would follow
them in a canoe
to get a better look. On one occasion I caught one of the nestlings
and did a
quick little painting of it. I then found the family and put it among the
rocks
where the others were hiding, so I am sure the
story had a happy ending.
It gives me a sense of satisfaction
to know that this little painting done at
the age of
15 was my best source of reference for the sculpture
and
painting I did over 30 years later." - Robert Bateman
- Merganser Duckling Bronze - Robert Bateman -
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