david coombe history
SUMMARY: S.T. Gill frequently portrayed the shepherd and his dog with a flock. Showing Gill's shepherd pictures from around 1840 to 1874.
Article type: ANALYSIS
This article shows S.T. Gill's shepherd pictures ranging in date from around 1840 to 1874. The list of works is representative but not exhaustive. (Some pictures are beyond the date scope of this catalogue but they afford us a broad view of his shepherd theme.)
Gill's shepherd scenes tended to be generic, with King's head sheep station (NLA R9920) a notable exception. The shepherd is almost always accompanied by his dog. The flock is always seen from behind.
One of Gill's artistic devices, that of a discarded bottle, is not present in his shepherd pictures. A bottle is in Homeward Bound in the Australian Sketchbook (1864-65), but it's in the shepherd's bag.
In a long article I address an oil painting and conclude it's by another artist; being signed "STG" implies it's not a copy but a fake.
I wrote this article in 2022 for Reading the Rooms : Behind the paintings of the State Library of New South Wales (2023) (page 199). I reproduce it here (as edited). (After considering "Homeward Bound" in "Australian Sketchbook", I think I overstated the dog breed argument.)
The shepherd (watching by proxy), ca. 1865
artist unknown, previously attributed to Samuel Thomas Gill
DL 43, acquired 1952.
The colonial artist Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80) is renowned for thousands of watercolours, wash drawings and lithograph prints.34 This work, The shepherd (watching by proxy) from around 1865 (DL 43) is one of only two extant oil paintings attributed to him, although art historian and Gill authority Professor Sasha Grishin doubts Gill worked seriously in oil.35
This painting was bequeathed to the Library by Sir William Dixson, although when and where he purchased it is unknown. It is signed "STG" on the lower left on the picture, characteristic of Gill. On the back, Dixson pencilled "S.T. Gill – The Shepherd", and would have had good reason to think this was by Gill. The subject and the scene were already familiar ones in Gill's lithographs and watercolours. But with the benefit of modern online access to Gill's works, it can be seen that this work was probably produced by another artist.
A shepherd sleeps with his back against a gum tree, upon which he has propped his gun. His dog keeps an eye on the flock, grazing off in the distance. A bottle and two rectangular objects – what are they? – lie on the ground beside the man. Does the angle of the bottle contribute to a sense that the dog is the more responsible one?
From the mid-1840s Gill frequently portrayed shepherd, dog and flock. The man and his dog quickly took prominence; this can be seen in the wash drawing "Shepherd, South Australia" of 1849, the lithograph "Sleeping shepherd" of 1855, and 1860s watercolours titled "Watching by proxy".36 In the 1860s versions, one could argue it is the sheepdog that has become the central character.
Gill was in Sydney from 1856 to 1863. A correspondent to Sydney's Empire newspaper,6 noting exhibitions in 1861, lamented Gill was under-appreciated.37 He described just one Gill work – "Watching by proxy":
A shepherd is reclining fast asleep, under a gum tree, with his fowling piece by his side; some debris of damper, and beef, an empty bottle, and the short pipe in his mouth, the bowl turned downwards, are suggestive of the mid-day's refection having been satisfactorily discussed ... A fine sheep dog watches by the shepherd's side ... his keen eyes are intently fixed on the fleecy flock ... A more characteristic bit of still life with all the accessories of sky, foliage, and grassy plain, we have not seen even among the late importations from English studios.38
This description corresponds well with a watercolour by this title (known at auction). However, this oil differs in the medium, in being circular instead of rectangular, the dog more kelpie than border collie, the bottle having fallen over, the added moustache (very rare for Gill) and rectangular things instead of lunch.
There's also an issue of artistic composition. Gill's works show a consistent use of leading lines to draw the viewer in, the gun leaning against the tree being one of these. Leading lines are absent from the oil.
On balance this oil is more likely to be by an unknown artist who based it on one or more of Gill's 1860s Gill watercolours. | David Coombe
Notes:
34. Grishin, Sasha, S.T. Gill & his audiences. National Library of Australia and State Library of Victoria, Canberra, ACT [Melbourne], 2015, p. 13.
35. Sasha Grishin, p. 224 and note 274.
36. National Library of Australia, nla.obj-134370033. National Library of Australia, nla.obj-133108677. "Watching by Proxy", 21 x 29 cm, auctioned 1978, 2012. "Watching by Proxy", 31.5 cm diameter, auctioned 1986, 2017. Source: Australian Art Auction Records, accessed 13 July 2022, https://www-artrecord-com.rp.nla.gov.au/.
37 & 38.Empire, 19 August 1861, p. 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60486970>
You can scroll down to see all pictures along with detailed notes or click a link to jump to a specific work from the list.
Shepherd and sheep near Burra | Art Gallery of South Australia 625D1
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1840~/1844~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 27(H) x 39.6(W) cm
A shepherd and his dog minding a flock on the side of a hill. The man wears a heavy coat, a broad-brimmed hat and carries a staff. The dog races off in the direction of the watercourse (seen at lower right). The topography is very hilly and mountains are in the background. Featured is a gum tree - stocky looking with little leaf. It is very similar to the prominent tree in"Agricultural and Horticultural Exhibition, Adelaide, 1845" (NGA 2012.25). Plants are not as readily identifiable as Gill would normally make them.
This picture is signed "SG" - uniquely so for an Australian work. This signature is shared however with "The Widower" (1835) in Gill's English sketchbook (AGSA 659D34).
These factors suggest this is an early South Australian work by Gill.
421
Hut & sheep pens | National Library of Australia R376
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 12.4(H) x 17.1(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill's Set of South Australian Scenes - Bennett
The scene is of two shepherds (probably a man and a boy), their hut and sheep pen. A plain or valley and mountains are in the background.
The picture is captioned in light pencil below - probably not by the artist - "Hut & sheep pens".
Sheep farming is described in Bennett (1843) 96-98: "The only erections at a squatting station are a turf or slab hut, or probably a tent. The hurdles for the sheep yards are moveable, and carried from place to place... The sheep are always driven at night into the pens, which are formed of movable hurdles, and the shepherd or hut-keeper, with his dog, sleeps in a movable box placed close to the fold. At sunrise the flock is counted out of the pens and sent out to graze, the shepherd attending them constantly until they return in the evening."
115
Turning out the sheep from the hurdle yard, early sunrise, shepherd leaving the hut | National Library of Australia NK6897/A
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844-12~/1845-01-05 | Appleyard cat. n/a | 9.6(H) x 15.9(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and John Napier Magill
The scene is of a shepherd and his dog sending the flock of sheep out from their hurdle yard in the early morning down to a plain or valley below.
The picture is signed and captioned below by the artist.
Sheep farming is described in Bennett (1843) 96-98.
"The sheep are always driven at night into the pens, which are formed of movable hurdles, and the shepherd or hut-keeper, with his dog, sleeps in a movable box placed close to the fold. At sunrise the flock is counted out of the pens and sent out to graze, the shepherd attending them constantly until they return in the evening." Bennett (1843) 97-98.
The same scene is shown in the set of eight drawings for J.F. Bennett: "Shepherd, hut and pens" (NLA R376).
For more detail see the catalogue / main entry.
264
[Man and dog resting under tree] | National Library of Australia NK7073/1
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1847~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 6.1(H) x 9.1(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill's The Seasons and The Months
This is a small picture of a shepherd and his dog resting near honeysuckle trees as they watch the sheep. Gill identifes this tree in his captioning of "Honeysuckle tree & native dog" NLA NK7073/4. It is Banksia marginata. Interestingly these two pictures are quite compositionally similar. This small picture is a pair (size, colouring, mount and collection) with "Grass trees So. [i.e South] Australia" NLA NK7073/2. Honeysuckle and grass trees were popular subjects for Gill. This picture is also similar to "April" (NLA R3296) and perhaps was in preparation for "The Seasons and The Months".
103
April | National Library of Australia R3296
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1847 | Appleyard cat. 5 | 21.8(H) x 18.3(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill's The Seasons and The Months
Main subject: sheep grazing, lambs, shepherd.
Background: ploughing (also February).
The shepherd is one of Gill's favourite themes and here there are two of them.
Commercial scale cropping is going on beyond the fenced sheep.
This could be Gill's occasional combination of honeysuckle and grass tree, but the tree at left looks more like a wattle with galls. Gill's grass trees have become quite stylised (also in Winter).
129
May | National Library of Australia R3297
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1847 | Appleyard cat. 6 | 21.9(H) x 18.2(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill's The Seasons and The Months
Main subject: couple strolling (also January).
Background: cattle and sheep grazing, shepherds.
A pastoral scene; an elegant couple stroll arm in arm. In the background a cow looks towards a bull.
130
not titled [Landscape with figure and sheep] | National Gallery of Australia 76.390
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1848 | Appleyard cat. n/a | 21.2(H) x 32(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill - 1848
A shepherd and his dog look over a sheep flock on relatively flat country with a stoney foreground. Two station buildings and a yard are at left. Mountains are on the horizon. Location unknown but could be the northern areas.
Similar in subject and colouring to "White's Station near Mount Remarkable, South Australia" (NLA box D1 #PIC/6460).
Signed "STG 1848".
758
Shepherd, So. [i.e. South] Australia, Adelaide, Jany 1849 | National Library of Australia NK7063/1
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1848-11~/1849-01 | Appleyard cat. n/a | 15.7(H) x 23.8(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill's Set of South Australian Scenes - January 1849
A shepherd smokes a pipe and leans on his gun, his dog at his feet, while watching the sheep.
"The sheep are always driven at night into the pens, which are formed of movable hurdles, and the shepherd or hut-keeper, with his dog, sleeps in a movable box placed close to the fold. At sunrise the flock is counted out of the pens and sent out to graze, the shepherd attending them constantly until they return in the evening." Bennett (1843) 97-98.
The shepherd, sheepdog and flock became an ongoing subject of Gill's. Years later he showed the shepherd asleep on the job while the dog remains watchful. "Sleeping Shepherd" was one of his 1855 "Sketches in Victoria" lithographs.
Gill titled the work. Captioned (in a different script to the title): "Adelaide, Jan'y 1849".
87
Sleeping shepherd | National Library of Australia NK9841/8
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1855 | Appleyard cat. n/a | 12.6(H) x 17(W) cm
Main listing: S.T. Gill - Subject - Shepherd
One of eight lithographs in Gill's "Sketches in Victoria" No. 3, June 1855, available as a sketchbook or letter paper. Lithographed by Campbell & Ferguson. Published by J.J. Blundell & Co., 44 Collins Street.
The Age, 2 June 1855: 1. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154898809>
600
Homeward Bound | State Library of Victoria H17136
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1864-12/1865-10 | Appleyard cat. n/a | 17.7(H) x 25.3(W) cm
Main listing: S.T. Gill - Subject - Shepherd
From Gill's "Australian Sketchbook", published by Hamel and Ferguson. A bottle is in the shepherd's bag.
The gray hair of the shepherd matches the description of a Gill watercolour noted in Sydney in February 1858: "The subject is a sheep station in the New England district. The hour is sunset, the sheep are returning to the fold, a view of the station appears in the back ground, while in the immediate foreground is the shepherd with his dog. The figure of the old man is excellent, and there is a softness and delicacy of touch in the landscape which render it decidedly a work of art." (Empire, 9 February 1858: 4. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60263293>)
604
The shepherd (watching by proxy) | Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales DL 43
Artist: Unknown | Date: 1855~/? | 18.4(H) x 18.4(W) cm
Main listing: S.T. Gill - Subject - Shepherd
"Sleeping Shepherd" (SLNSW DL 43) is one of just two oils attributed to S.T. Gill in national / state public institutions. I think this is not a genuine Gill, but has been based on the 1855 lithograph "Sleeping Shepherd" or on similar Gill watercolours "Watching by proxy" in the 1860s. It was painted at an unknown date but after 1855.
An engraving similar to the 1855 lithograph appeared in Illustrated Sydney News, 3 October 1868: 5. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63514189>.
Note the man's moustache. The bottle lies on its side, apparently empty.
334
Major King's head sheep station on Kapunda Creek, South Australia | National Library of Australia R9920
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1874 | Appleyard cat. n/a | 24.4(H) x 34.8(W) cm
Main listing: S.T. Gill - Subject - Shepherd
A view of a very substantial sheep and cattle station, with six buildings including an impressive homestead and a road bridge crossing a creek or river. A shepherd and his dog is in the foreground behind a large flock of sheep. A building at right is probably the shepherd's hut.
Sheep hurdles are in the foreground. Of some interest is Gill's characteristic poultry: four chickens and a rooster (see "Klemzig, Angas, a German Hay Wagon and Chickens" https://coombe.id.au/S_T_Gill/Klemzig_Angas_Gill.htm). Signed "STG/74".
The station seems to be that of Stephen King (at Kingsford) on the North Para River, described in 1851: "... we walked out to notice a substantial stone building in progress as Mr. King's future dwelling, of two floors, with spacious sitting-rooms. When finished this certainly will be one of the best houses in the colony, though costly. Mr. King had a garden, good for its age, with fruit-trees and vines ..."
Adelaide Observer, 26 July 1851: 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165043848.
The catalogue title is "Major King's head sheep station on Kapunda Creek, South Australia" (from a reverse inscription). However there is no contemporary "Major King" and this may have been a mistranscription of "Mrs King". (The Kings later lived apart with Mrs King at Kingsford and Mr King elsewhere.)
Map | S. T. Gill - South eastern South Australia
162
David Coombe. 19 September 2024. Updated 3 October 2025. | text copyright (except where indicated)
CITE THIS: David Coombe, 2022-2025, S.T. Gill - Subject - Shepherd, accessed dd mmm yyyy, <https://coombe.id.au/S_T_Gill/S_T_Gill_Subject_Shepherd.htm>