History

Image 29 of 42
  previous page next page

"The Governor making the best of his way to the Boat after being wounded with the spear sticking in his Shoulder"

Artist: Port Jackson Painter
Created: [ca. 1790?]
Dimensions: 27.4 x 45.1 cm
Reference: Watling Drawing - no. 23

 

show detailed image description

 

hide notes

  • Port Jackson Painter]
  • The drawing is inscribed in blue pencil at top right with the number "32", which refers to the pre-1984 numbering system for the Watling Collection.
  • The drawing is annotated in brown ink at bottom "The Governor making the best of his way to the Boat after being wounded with the spear sticking in his Shoulder."
  • The drawing is unsigned and undated.
  • The composition is almost identical to that of Watling drawing number 24, which represents the same incident.
  • An account of the incident depicted is related by Watkin Tench in his Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, originally published in 1793 (see Flannery, Tim (ed.). Watkin Tench: 1788. The Text Publishing Company, Melbourne, 1996, pp.134-141).
  • 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 12023
  • James Lee of Kensington : purchased ; 1902
  • Data sheet available.
  • Wheeler, A. and Smith, B, (eds.) The Art of the First Fleet and other early Australian Drawings. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1988. (Plate 63, p. 66.)