Don Balke (North Carolina, B. 1933) "Dinosaur/Tyrannosaurus" Signed lower left. Original Watercolor on Illustration Board.
Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.
This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 25c Tyrannosaurus stamp issued October 1, 1989.
The largest flesh-eating animal that ever lived, the dinosaur tyrannosaurus was a forty-five foot long terror that preyed on its lumbering, plant-eating cousins. Tyrannosaurus stood almost twenty feet high, and had a four-foot head whose mouth was armed with six-inch long, dagger-like teeth. It had ridiculously small front legs, useless except perhaps for grabbing things at close range. Its lengthy tail served as a counterbalance to its great body. Tyrannosaurus was very muscular, especially in the mouth region, where it had massive muscles for biting and chewing. It also had powerful rear legs for support and mobility. Even in its own time, tyrannosaurus was most likely a fairly rare animal, with only one of these monsters hunting every hundred square miles. These creatures survived until late in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era, about sixty-five million years ago, when for reasons still unknown all the dinosaurs vanished, awesome and horrifying tyrannosaurus among them. But it is easy to imagine tyrannosaurus stalking the lush vegetation of the steaming prehistoric swamp for the great plant-eating dinosaurs who moved slowly through the flora, their comically dwarfed heads working constantly to gulp down enough nourishment to keep their huge bodies going. The plant-eaters developed protection against tyrannosaurus -- some sought refuge in water, some grew suits of armor. Yet few were totally safe from the fierce tyrannosaurus, king of the violent, prehistoric swamp.
Image Size: 14.5 x 13 in.
Overall Size: 22.25 x 20 in.
Unframed.
(B11992)
Condition
- By registering to bid for this auction either in-house or online and/or placing a bid in this auction the BIDDER/BUYER agrees to all the terms and conditions of Helmuth Stone Gallery Auctions.
- Due to the size of our gallery not all items are out for preview at one time. If you plan on coming to preview any lot(s) we recommend letting us know prior so we can have them collected and prepared for your preview.
- All silver, gold and/or jewelry lots or invoices containing said lots MUST be paid for via WIRE TRANSFER, no other forms of payment will be accepted.
- All items are sold as-is where-is and no guarantees are made of any kind. All sales are final; no refunds will be given under any circumstances.
- All artwork is listed and sold per section (10) of our terms and conditions, please read over all definitions of authorship prior to bidding to better understand artwork listings.
- Helmuth Stone Gallery provides condition reports as a courtesy to our clients and assumes no liability for any error or omission. Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client and is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Descriptions are our opinions and should in no way be construed as a guarantee of any kind as to age, condition, mater. The bidder assumes responsibility for ensuring that the condition of the item(s) meets with their satisfaction prior to bidding. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections, or the effects of aging.
- Online images can sometimes be low quality due to the uploading process, original high-resolution images can be requested via email at HelmuthStone@gmail.com
- We recommend looking into shipping quotes prior to bidding, shipping quotes can take up to a week or more post-sale as we host our auctions through multiple online platforms and shipping can become backlogged, if you would like a list of local shippers please email us directly.
- Our auction catalogs are hosted through multiple online platforms along with phone and in-house bidding. Bids placed on other platforms are not shown through this catalog. Because of this, even if it appears you are the only absentee bid or bidder on a lot, you may already be outbid or may have placed a bid equal to another bidder. Therefore, we always recommend bidding live.
- Unless otherwise stated in the description, all items are sold without additional documentation or COAs. If any supporting documentation is available an image will be available online via the catalog listing.