Recurvirostra avosetta (Pied avocet) Possibly 1777 - 1786

Robert Jacob Gordon made this image of a Pied avocet with pen and watercolor. The materials are quite traditional, but their use here is aimed at documentary precision rather than fine art effect. Look closely, and you can see the layered washes of pigment that Gordon applied to give the bird its characteristic markings. The precision of line is notable, as are the calibrated markings at the right edge, suggesting that this image was conceived as part of a scientific project, perhaps an ornithological survey. Gordon was a military man in the Dutch East India Company, a context that makes the drawing a kind of specimen, rendered with a detached, observant eye. While watercolor might seem like a delicate medium, it was pressed into service during this period to produce a kind of visual inventory, tied to colonial administration and resource extraction. So, even a seemingly straightforward image like this one can be understood in relation to power, labor, and the consumption of natural resources.