3-071-097 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

A Disputed Claim, 1881. 'This picture...is an admirably truthful and powerful delineation of the great white bear of the Arctic Regions - a species of animal not unfamiliar to Londoners who sometimes visit the Zoological Society's Gardens, but which should be seen amidst the ice-drifts and snow-covered coasts of the North, to appreciate the ragged majesty of its form and gestures. Two individuals of the ursine species, one of them swimming, the other mounting guard over the carcase of a seal, here appear to be making up their minds to fight out the "disputed claim" by means of such weapons of mutual offence as Nature has gifted them with...We cannot but think of the spirit and manner in which contending Empires and Kingdoms, and even Republics, are still accustomed to settle their disputed claims to some objects of contention, which are not nearly so indispensable to their existence and happiness as is this mass of dead flesh to the two hungry beasts of prey in the dreary Arctic wilderness. The Russian Bear is at once called to remembrance, and then we are reminded of certain Eagles, Lions, and other emblematic creatures of the animal world, chosen in past ages to represent the fierce and predacious temper of great civilised nations'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.