This print, entitled "Orchard Oriole", comes from a color plate book called "The Birds of America" (1827–1839) and is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed. The Bien Edition was a full-sized reissue by John Woodhouse Audubon (John James Audubon’s youngest son). With the advances in color printing, at the time, it was decided that the plates would be produced using the very latest techniques in chromolithography. Julius Bien of New York, a pioneer in chromolithography, was contracted as the lithographer. Due in part to the Civil War, the edition was never finished. Fewer than 100 subscriptions were sold, making this edition rarer than other early editions.

This beautiful still life is deeply connected to our site. Titled Bluebonnets and Evening Primrose, members of the NSCDA-TX (who own the site today) borrowed the painting in 1901 to help sway the vote for the Bluebonnet to become the State Flower of Texas. However, the connection is deeper. The artist lived in Austin as a young child when her father, Moses Austin, came from Ohio to serve as Chief Justice of the Texsa Surpreme Court during Reconstruction. Walker and his family lived in this house, making this building Mode Waker's home as a toddler.

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If you've spent any time in Texas you know that the bluebonnet is our beloved official state flower. Look closely and you can already see bluebonnets beginning to bloom in fields and along roadways. What most folks don’t know is that the bluebonnet was not the state's first choice for official flower. At the Texas legislative session of 1901 there were three nominations: from West Texas, the prickly pear cactus; from East Texas, the cotton boll; and the bluebonnet. It was a group of impassioned women, the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Texas (NSCDA-TX), acting years before women’s suffrage, who successfully lobbied the legislature in favor of the bluebonnet on the day of the vote. On March 7th, 1901, the NSCDA-TX delivered mason jars of bluebonnets to each legislator's office and displayed Mode Walker’s, “Bluebonnets with Evening Primrose” on the chamber floor. These efforts were success and the bluebonnet became the unanimous choice. “Bluebonnets and Evening Primrose”(1900), pictured here, hangs in the lobby of the Neill-Cochran House Museum today. You can see the artwork that inspired Texas to make the right choice 121 years ago, at the Neill-Cochran House Museum, Wed-Sun, 11-4pm.