- 372
AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL
Description
- Australian School
- SANDRIDGE FROM HOBSON'S BAY
Inscribed and dated 1852 on the reverse: 'Liardets (now called Sandridge) with Melbourne - Mt Macedon in the distance - taken from the deck of the Ship "Panama" lying in Hobson's Bay, Novr 1852'; bears a label with a similar inscription on the backing board
- Pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper
- 17.5 by 25.5 cm
Provenance
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The painter of this interesting early view of Port Melbourne in the Gold Rush era has not yet been identified. The ship Panama arrived in Melbourne in October 1852. Its departure via Hobart is documented in the unpublished journal of Morton Allport (1830-1878), a solicitor, amateur painter and photographer brought up in Hobart. Although he was taught painting and drawing by his mother and Skinner Prout, his surviving work is not as accomplished as the present watercolour. It was presumably executed by a fellow passenger. Interestingly there was a twenty seven year old passenger named James Marshall on the Panama's inward voyage, who may have been the solicitor who exhibited oil paintings of Hobson's Bay and Flemington at the Victorian Exhibition of Art in 1856 and later worked in Tasmania.1
We are most grateful to Gerard Hayes at the State Library of Victoria and Marian Jameson at the Allport Library in Hobart for assistance in cataloguing this work.
We are most grateful to Jane Clark for her assistance in cataloguing this work.
1. The Age, Melbourne, 30 October 1856; see Kerr, J. (ed.), The Dictionary of Australian Artists, Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992, p. 513.