Equus quagga quagga (Quagga) Possibly 1777 - 1786

Editor: Here we have "Equus quagga quagga (Quagga)," a watercolor and ink drawing, possibly from 1777 to 1786, by Robert Jacob Gordon. It's striking how…incomplete the stripes seem. They fade as they move down its body. What do you see in this image? Curator: Well, it's more than just a depiction of an animal, isn't it? The quagga itself is a symbol, now extinct. Consider what that image, even two centuries ago, might have signified about vanishing species, about colonial expansion into Southern Africa. What feelings does that asymmetry of the stripes evoke within you? Editor: A sense of something unfinished, or even…diminished. It's like the zebra is slowly fading away. Curator: Exactly. The fading is part of the animal itself, but is reinforced in how it's depicted in this image; the naturalistic style underscores its vulnerability. Did Gordon capture a living creature, or create a symbol presaging loss? Perhaps both. What do you notice about the inscription at the top of the page? Editor: It looks like measurements…heights of different body parts. Was this a scientific study as much as an artwork? Curator: Precisely. And doesn't that combine the scientific gaze, classifying, quantifying, with the inherent beauty of the animal, almost contradicting the message? We want to save what we quantify. Editor: It's powerful to see how much history and complex meaning can be packed into what seems at first to be just a simple drawing of an animal. Curator: Indeed. It speaks volumes, not just about the quagga, but about us, our relationship with the natural world, and what we choose to preserve or let vanish.