Panoramic view of King George's Sound part of the colony of Swan River, 1834 / drawn by Lieutenant R. Dale, engraved by R. Havell

PX*D 161

fonds

London (77 Oxford Street) : Pubd. as the Act directs by Robt. Havell, Oct. 1834

Graphic Materials, Prints

1232036

1 print - 19 x 274.2 cm. folded to 19 x 41 cm. - aquatint, hand col.

In 1832, Robert Dale made drawings of King George’s Sound and the newly founded Colony of Swan River (in what is now Western Australia) that were later used as a reference for an etching published by the English engraver and printer Robert Havell.

Hand coloured print in 6 sections that are joined and backed on paper.

The resulting hand-coloured print records a landscape in transition due to colonisation. Several small farms appear over the hills, the bush has been cleared by fire, and British occupation of the land is clearly marked by the presence of a Union Jack and ships sailing in the Sound.

Dale shows the British and Aboriginal people in harmony: a solider shakes hands with an Aboriginal, and when a party of soldiers and Aboriginal people returns from a hunt, the solider carries the kangaroo quarry over his shoulder. Dale also pays close attention to the local vegetation and we can identify grass trees, cycads and banksias.

(Source: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/col/work/21945)

Out of copyright: Artist died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

The Mitchell Library holds several copies of this print which are located at:
XV5B/K Geo So/1 and PXB 3.

Other prints are located at DL Q83/73-74, and State Library RB:09 NQ 919.412/1.