R.G. Finney (Wyoming, B. 1941) "Bengal Tiger" Signed lower right. Original Oil painting on Masonite. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Republic of the Marshall Islands 55c Bengal Tiger mint stamp issued March 8, 1997. The tiger is the largest member of the cat family, with a mature male standing over three feet tall at the shoulder and weighing up to 500 pounds. Despite its size, formidable strength and ferocity, the tiger is a wary creature that lives a solitary existence in jungles or forests. This caution is justified since six of the eight tiger subspecies are today either extinct or endangered. Once extending from Turkey to China, the tiger's range is now reduced to parts of India, Manchuria and Southeast Asia. Of all big cats, the tiger seems to have taken the strongest hold on mans imagination. This is demonstrated in such disparate expressions as the famous poem by William Blake that wonders at the creature's "fearful symmetry," and in the language of mountain people in northeastern China for whom the terms for tiger and God are synonymous. Overall Size: 12 x 12 in. Unframed. (B15292)