Owl Handmade Glass Ornament*The Met Store Store

Metropolitan Museum of Art Christmas ornaments.

Around 1820, John James Audubon (American, b. Haiti, 1785–1851) made it his mission to paint every bird in North America. He subsequently created over 400 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. This ornament pays tribute to Audubon’s careful study of and enduring fascination with birds.