First Fleet artwork collection

Drawing of an emu in left profile, with a large egg to the right labelled "1" and a detail of a feather to the left labelled "2", and a "Scale of Feet" drawn in black ink and wash down the left hand side (1 foot equals 5.1 cm.). The bird is coloured off-white to grey with a mauve neck, overlaid with short black serpentine lines and stippled marks. It has a small, claw-like wing, bristles or long feathers on its face, and grey-brown legs overlaid with black bands and outlines of scales. It is depicted standing on ground represented by a pale yellow wash overlaid with green-grey and brown brush marks, with a blue egg overlaid with grey speckles to the right, and an enlarged detail of a single feather to the left illustrating its unusual double-shafted structure. 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 the title and references. It is signed and dated in the inner band at lower right. 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 panel beneath the drawing "EMU of PORT JACKSON. References - 1 A Body Feather of the Natural Size # 2. Its Egg 5 Inches by 3 3/4 - from the only one yet seen".
• The drawing is signed and dated in black ink at lower right "Geo: RapeR # 1791 ~".
• The drawing is inscribed in pencil at bottom left and right with the number "67", and on the reverse "63".
• The bird was identified by Hindwood (1964) as the Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae.
• John Calaby notes the similarity of the drawing to one in the sketchbook by John Hunter in the National Library of Australia, Canberra, although Hunter's does not include the egg or feather. (Calaby, John (ed). The Hunter Sketchbook. Melbourne, National Library of Australia, 1989 p. 164.)
• 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) General Library and Picture Library: Picture Library order number 15167
• 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.
• 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.