John Richardson Glover

Acquired by David A. Murray, Christchurch, New Zealand in 1868 (inscribed on inside front cover); thency by descent
Phillips Auctions, Sydney, 15 May 2001, lot 545
Private collection, Tasmania; purchased from the above

Overall condition good. Covers worn/scuffed. Binding poor - of 31 extant folios, 21 are detached. One folio missing (since before first sale). Extensive but very minor stains, creases, tears and rubbing throughout.
"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."

Ben Lomond from near Evandale
Steam Mill
(Unidentified buildings - nonconformist chapel and cottage)
Police Office Morven
Mr Williatts (cottage amid trees)
Pencil sketch - detail of outlines of following drawing)
Constable Evandale (cottage)
Mr Skene, late R. Wales Esqr. A. P. M. (two-storey house)
Woodstock (cottage)
(sketch - plan of garden beds of following drawing)
(Unidentified cottage and garden)
(Street and buildings - Evandale?)
Episcopalian Church
(transcription of line of verse of Saggers: "Unfold thy bosom sacred tomb...")
Episcopalian Church
(Unidentified cottage and garden)
Evandale
Mr Hunter's
Anjou villa, Mr M...
Brickendon. Mr Archer
(inscribed pencil with title of previous drawing
(Unidentified villa and garden)
(Folio missing)
Spring Vale
(River in flood)
(Rough pencil sketch - homestead in landscape - Woolmers?)
Brewery
(ink continuation of outlines of following drawing)
Trafalgar
(sketch - detail of verandah balustrade of following drawing
The Manse Evandale
(Bushy landscape)
(Rough pencil sketch - cottage in landscape)
(Blue ink spattrie work - fern fronds)

John Richardson Glover was the eldest son of the celebrated Anglo-colonial landscape painter John Glover. Having accompanied his aged father and stepmother to Van Diemen's Land in 1830, John junior assisted in the establishment and management of the farming property 'Patterdale' at Mills' Plains. A gifted and dedicated amateur artist, John junior's ink and wash drawings are stylistically quite distinctive, with their crisp outlines and flat grey washes, curly trees and cloudy foliage. His drawings and copies from his father's sketchbooks and his letters to relatives in England provide invaluable documentation both of Glover senior's life and work and of the general circumstances of agricultural settlement in Van Diemen's land in the 1830s and 1840s.

The present sketchbook is one of a group of three first sold in Sydney in 2001, from the collection of the Murray family, New Zealand, the others being a book of 16 copies of John Glover senior's sketches in Cumberland and Westmoreland, and a book of 15 sketches in and around Longford, Tasmania, the next village west of Evandale. The Glover and Kennedy families were evidently close. Kennedy Murray was an Evandale landowner and District Constable, and his son William married John junior's niece Mary Ann in 1849. Given that the sketchbook is inscribed as having been acquired by David Kennedy Murray in the year of the artist's death, it may very well have been part of a bequest.