Lyre horned Antelope, male, female and a young male

Object Status:

Unlocated

Primary Source Reference:

Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) 18 June 1796

Additional Source Text:

"These gentle and beautiful animals are natives of the East Indies. As they are placed for public view in the priviledged inclosure adjoining the Museum, it would be unnecessary to give a particular discription of them; we will only observe that they live in Society and Ruminate, and their eyes are so black, large, lively and at the same time so mild, that the East indians, proverbially, compare the fine eye of a woman to those of the Antelope."

Notes:

There are about half a dozen antelope species with lyre-shaped horns; the springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is pictured here.

Thomas Tingey (1750-1829), a native Briton, held a warrant officer’s commission in the Royal Navy before settling in America. Traditional assertions of service in the Continental navy are unsubstantiated, but during the Revolution he piloted vessels engaged in the West India trade. Tingey retired from commercial pursuits in 1798 to accept a captain’s commission in the nascent U.S. Navy. He served with distinction in the Quasi-War against France and later became commandant of the Washington Navy Yard (1804-1829).

Peale's Common Name:

Lyre horned antelope