First Fleet artwork collection

Drawing of various weapons, implements and musical instruments from Duke of York Island against a plain background and numbered 1-4, with a key given below the drawing. Above are two spears and a fishing spear, arranged horizontally one above the other. The spear at top appears to be made of bamboo with a darker coloured point, decorated towards the joint with black painted patterns. The next spear is black with a white pointed end and green, red, yellow and white feather ornaments towards the end of the shaft. The fishing spear also appears to be made of bamboo, with five prongs at the end. Below them is a set of pan pipes, made up of seven pieces of hollow wood or reed of decreasing length, bound with black string to the left and pink tape to the right, and decorated with black painted patterns on the longest two pieces. A sling is tied to the end of the pipes on the left. Along the bottom, to the left of the composition is a grey diamond-shaped paddle with a black and white handle, decorated with a pink diamond and black detail; at centre is a club, coloured pink with grey shading and black cross-hatched lines on the handle; and at right a fishing hook. The drawing is framed with a thick black ink line and a triple-banded border, the central band of which is coloured with a pink wash and contains panels at top and bottom with the title and key. The signature and date are located at lower right in the inner band. Most of the outer band appears to have been lost through the drawing having been cropped.

• George Raper]
• The drawing is inscribed in black ink in a title panel above the drawing "IMPLEMENTS & cc of Duke of YORK Island St Georges - Chan.l".
• The drawing is signed and dated at lower right "taken from Originals by GEO: RapeR # 1791 ~".
• The implements depicted are numbered 1-4, with a key given in a panel below the drawing; "1. 1. Spears from 9 to 16 Feet 2. Fiz-gig 8 to 12 Feet ............... 3. Musical instruments 8 Inches to 24 ..................... 4 Sling ............... 5 Paddle 3 feet, .................... 6 Club 3 feet ............... 7 Fish-hook -".
• The drawing is inscribed in pencil at bottom left with the number "30", at top right "29", and on the reverse "48".
• Raper left Port Jackson for England on 26th March 1791 on the Waaksamheyd, captained by John Hunter. Hunter gave an account of this voyage in An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (London, 1793), including their arrival at Duke of York Island in May 1791 (pp. 292-242). The Journal is illustrated with similar implements to those depicted in this drawing. John Calaby notes the similarity of the pan-pipes to a drawing in the sketchbook by John Hunter in the National Library of Australia, Canberra. (Calaby, John (ed). The Hunter Sketchbook. Melbourne, National Library of Australia, 1989).
• The author of this catalogue record is Suzanne Stenning.
• By permission of the trustees of the Natural History Museum (London).
• Two sets of transparencies held in the Natural History Museum (London) Zoology Library and Picture Library: Picture Library order number 15130
• Miss Eva Godman donated 1962
• Data sheet available.
• Hindwood, K.A. 'George Raper: an Artist of the First Fleet', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Vol. 50, Pt. 1, 1964 pp.32-57.