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This brooch brings to life the Common Cardinal Grosbeak (Cardinalis cardinalis), also known as the Northern Cardinal, depicted in a 19th-century lithograph by John T. Bowen after the famous naturalist John James Audubon. Around 1820, Audubon made it his mission to paint every bird in North America. He subsequently created 435 preparatory watercolors for what would become The Birds of America, a lavish book of copperplate etchings, engravings, and aquatints, originally printed between 1827 and 1838. He then published 500 smaller hand-colored lithographs based on his designs between 1840 and 1844. Our adornment pays tribute to his careful study of and enduring fascination with birds.