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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Important Australian Art
• Sale Date:
  25 Nov 2020 ~ 6pm (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  15
• Lot Description:
  Samuel Thomas Gill
  (1818-1880)
  Princes Bridge, Melbourne, c.1854
  watercolour heightened with bodycolour
  13.5 x 20.5cm (5 5/16 x 8 1/16in).
  RELATED WORKS: Melbourne Showing the New Bridge, 1854, watercolour on paper, 34.1 x 61.0cm, in the collection of the National Library of Australia, Canberra; Prince's Bridge and City Terminus, of M. & H.B. Railway, Melbourne, 1856, engraving, 18.7 x 24.0cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Eastern Side of Princes Bridge from Yarra Yarra, ca. 1855-1856, lithograph, 11.5 x 18.3cm, in the collection of the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
• Provenance:
  Private collection; Sotheby's, Melbourne, 23 August 1993, lot 127; Private collection, Melbourne
• Notes:
  Samuel Thomas Gill arrived in Adelaide with his family aboard the Caroline in 1839 as a twenty-one year old. He was already a trained and practising artist and upon his arrival, advertised in the South Australian Register – 'S.T. Gill, Artists, etc. late Draughtsman and Water Colour Painter to the Hubard Profile Gallery of London, begs to announce to his friends and the public generally of Adelaide and its vicinity that he has opened rooms in Gawler Place where he for the present solicits the attendance of such individuals as are desirous of obtaining correct likeness of themselves, families or friends. Parties preferring attendances at their residences may be accommodated without additional charge. Correct resemblances of horses, dogs, etc., with local scenery etc., executed to order'. In the following 12 years, Gill produced animated images of life in early Adelaide and its surrounds whilst also documenting momentous occasions such as Sturt's overland expedition leaving Adelaide, 10th August 1844, now in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. In the early 1850s, as news swept the world that Victoria was on the verge of a gold rush, the temptation of striking it rich drew prospective miners from all parts of the globe. Following a series of personal tragedies and ill health, Gill joined a large contingent of South Australians making their way to the goldfields, including fellow artist George French Angas. It's possible that he first tried his luck in the gold fields. However, it was not long before he was recording the life and times of his comrades and the emergence of Victorian towns such as Bendigo and Ballarat. By late 1852, Gill had moved to Melbourne bringing with him a vast collection of drawings and watercolours which would form the basis for a number of suites of lithographs such as Sketches of the Victorian Diggings. Following these successful scenes of the goldfields, Gill began recording the impressive transformation that Melbourne was going through thanks to its new found wealth and popularity. Just prior to the events of the gold rush, Princes Bridge had undergone its first major transformation, re-opening on the 15th November 1850. What once stood as a wooden bridge was rebuilt into a grand single span, 46 metre long, 7 metre high bluestone and granite arch bridge. Designed by David Lennox, it was at the time one of the longest and flattest bridges in the world. As the gold rush hit Melbourne, the sudden increase in population and activity along the Yarra prompted a further upgrade in the 1880s to the structure which currently stands today. The present work, Princes Bridge, is an incredibly rare and important historical recording of the bridge in its second stage. Gill showcases the importance of such a structure to the city, with the bustle of patrons scattered atop the bridge and the daily activities along the Yarra River. Alex Clark 1. James Gleeson, Colonial Painters 1788-1880, Landsdowne Press, Melbourne 1971, p.106
• Estimate:
  A$20,000 - 40,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.