American Lobster Print
American Lobster Print
Size
12 × 18 in overall, unframed. The plate sits on an ivory sheet with a border of about an inch, so it fits a standard ready-made frame of the same size, with or without a mat.
Printed on 189 g/m² (10.3 mil) enhanced matte paper.
Want it ready to hang? The same plate comes framed in Black or Red Oak.
A male lobster drawn at Eastport, Maine, in 1882, crusher claw and pincer claw.
The print
- The full plate with its name, legend and credits, re-rendered from the source scan at print size, not enlarged from a shirt file.
- Restored from a library scan of the original book; nothing redrawn.
- Keep out of direct sunlight; a frame with glass or acrylic keeps it clean.
Shipping & production
Each print is printed for you after you order, usually within 2–5 business days, and ships on its own (separate from any shirts or framed prints in the same order). Shipping is shown at checkout before you pay.
Returns
If your print arrives damaged or misprinted, contact us within 30 days of delivery with a photo and we'll send a replacement or a refund. Because every print is made to order, we can't accept returns for a change of mind.
Plate 025
From the book
- Species
- Homarus americanus
- As named in the book
- 'School Lobsters' and 'Rock Lobsters,' or 'Groundholders.'
- Artist
- J. H. Emerton
- Book
- The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, Sec. I, pl. 271, 1884
“The color of the Lobster is so varied as to almost defy accurate description.”
Field notes
Look closely: the two claws aren't a matched pair.
Emerton drew this male in black ink from a specimen taken at Eastport, Maine, in 1882. Maybe that was wise: the survey's writers admitted that "the color of the Lobster is so varied as to almost defy accurate description."
Look at the claws. They aren't a matched pair. One is the crusher, heavy and blunt, studded with rounded knobs for cracking shells. The other is the cutter, slimmer, with a sharp-toothed edge for gripping and tearing. A lobster can even regrow a lost claw over a few molts.
Most lobsters are a mottled greenish-brown that turns red only in the pot. But every so often a trap comes up with something else: yellow, calico, split down the middle, or brilliant blue. Blue is the famous one, often estimated at about one in two million.