david coombe | history
SUMMARY: George French Angas made a splash in South Australia in 1844 and 1845. He arrived from England on 31 December 1843, stayed for six months, left for another six, returned for five, and left again on 2 July 1845, a fortnight after his art exhibition and its associated controversy.
This is the most significant article in the S.T. Gill project, alongside "Art History's Wrong Turn". In this I article provide evidence for Gill's secret commissioning by Angas and I attribute to Gill several works previously attributed to Angas. In doing so, I move the discussion towards Gill as the (until now unrecognised) original creator and away from Angas's borrowing, copying or publishing. We can now see the significance of the Angas commission in Gill's professional trajectory.
This article:
Article type: NARRATIVE, ANALYSIS, CATALOGUE
In this article ...
NOTE: Emphases (bold) in newspaper quotations are mine.
George French Angas (1822-1886) arrived in Adelaide from England on 31 December 1843 and announced his grand "South Australia Illustrated" project "under the especial Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Adelaide".1 George French was the eldest son of George Fife Angas, chairman of the South Australian Company and reputedly the colony's largest land holder. Connections facilitated this colonial endeavour through Governor George Grey and Angas senior's local agent Anthony Forster.
Forster had for a while employed young William Anderson Cawthorne (1824-1897) as a clerk. Cawthorne was a humble school teacher who, since his arrival in 1840, had taken an intense interest in the Aboriginal people and their culture. Little more than a fortnight after French Angas' arrival, Cawthorne noted in his diary:
Yesterday I strolled about for one hour and walked into my former august Master Anthony Forster Esq. He told me that as soon as his imperial highness George French Angas author of a "Tour through Malta & Sicily" &c &c &c &c he should condescend so low as to introduce me to his Majesty for the ostensible purpose of "telling him all I know about the Natives for his intended work". So you see to what an immense height my talents have raised me – see the unparalleled distinction that is awaiting me. Observe the remunerating employment I shall be engaged in but for all this I would rather press real talents of gold or silver than to all the intellectual ones that his august majesty can command.2
Cawthorne appears to be mocking Angas, but his diary instead reads of his early adoration. Probably Cawthorne is dubious of Forster's representation of the opportunity, given the financial and social chasm separating the two. Cawthorne was to tell Angas all he knew about Aborginal culture. Opportunity was one thing, but for Cawthorne at that time, an income was desired more than glory. The diary entry reveals the beginning of this imbalanced relationship. For more on Cawthorne, see: S.T. Gill and W.A. Cawthorne.
Angas stayed in South Australia for six months, left for another six and returned for another five. Significant dates:
This is not the place to detail Angas's stay in South Australia; that is thoroughly covered in Jones 2021 (see reference below). This article focuses on Gill's work for Angas.
While George French was absent in New Zealand, the Angases called upon Gill to work for them in the Barossa. On 29 October 1844 John Howard Angas (younger brother of George French Angas and son of George Fife Angas) noted in his diary: "out with Mr Gill the artist who has come from town to take some sketches – took Angaston, 'Wheal Sally', sheep washing and flat below Mr Evans".3
Several watercolours likely relate to this Barossa visit.3
It's quite possible some or all of these Barossa pictures went back to George Fife Angas in England with agent Anthony Forster on Symmetry in December 1844. For more see:
S.T. Gill at Angas' Barossa 1844
S. T. Gill was in the Barossa sketching for the Angas family from 29 October to 4 November 1844. I identify some works as well as influences on Angas publications: "South Australia Illustrated" and "Barossa Range and its neighbourhood".
Angas returned to South Australia from New Zealand in January 1845 and continued to tour and gather material – artefacts and pictures – for "South Australia Illustrated".
Throughout his stays Angas was helped by Governor George Grey who took him on several "expeditions" to help build his collection. Angas' final trip with Grey was from 23 April 1845 and from which he returned on 13 May from sketching at Port Lincoln.
Meanwhile in Adelaide, James Allen put up his newspaper business for sale; and, incidentally, F.H. Faulding opened as a chemist in Rundle Street. On 23 and 24 May most of who's who were at the Queen's Birthday ball and levee at Government House, Angas included. He was readying for a project completing return to England.
The newspapers were effusive. John Stephens led the way from his Saturday weekly, the Adelaide Observer.
That talented artist Mr George French Angas, we learn, is about to proceed to England, there to publish, as soon as possible, his very interesting "Illustrations of South Australia," as well as those of New Zealand. They consist of a vast variety of portraits of the natives, representations of their habitations, ceremonies, costumes, and warlike and domestic implements; forming a collection of graphic materials, to be appreciated only by those, who like the writer of this article, have had repeated and gratifying opportunities of viewing them through the kindness and liberality of the artist ... In the course of a week or two Mr Angas intends to exhibit his South Australian and New Zealand drawings to the public in the Legislative Council Chamber, by the permission and under the express patronage of his Excellency the Governor and Mrs Grey. The subjects are so varied, so delightfully and truthfully delineated, and so chastely executed, that, independently of our earnest advice to all the lovers of Modern Art in the Colony, who can afford it, to subscribe to these works; we are sure, that in the dearth of amusement for our fair dames, an entertainment will be offered in the exhibition of these drawings, which the ladies of South Australia will be delighted to patronise. A trifling price will be fixed for admission, to cover the necessary expenses of exhibition and catalogues.4
A fortnight later Angas was ready to advertise:
SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
THE Exhibition of Water Colour Drawings, by Mr George French Angas, objects of interest in South Australia and New Zealand, will take place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next, the 18th, 19th and 20th of June, at the Legislative Council Chamber.
Admission from 10 till 4 o'clock each day by tickets, at 1s. each, to be procured at either of Mr Platts's shops, and at the Observer Office.
Catalogues, 6d each, to be had at the doors.
⁂ The proposed Exhibition will not include various views in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, and a number of other landscapes, which want of time previously to the intended exhibition, has prevented Mr Angas from completing, but which have been reserved to be finished with particular care.5
We will see that a possible reason for Angas omitting Adelaide neighbourhood views and landscapes was that those works weren't actually by him. In fact, what could may be Angas' best landscape is one of the Adelaide neighbourhood and I will argue it is actually by Gill.
In 1844 and 1845 Cawthorne oscillated between his adoration of Angas and his resentment at Angas' treatment of himself and others. He eventually settled on resentment and disapproval. This is abundantly clear in his diaries and, although they were private, Cawthorne is unlikely to have withheld his feelings from several friends, including S.T. Gill, his art master from February 1845; jeweller John Henry Pace, who was boarding Angas at the time; and J.M. Skipper, fellow amateur artist. Another who was discontent was Frederick Robert Nixon, another amateur artist who'd published F.R. Nixon's Twelve Views, &c., 1845 in March.
On 17 June, the eve of George French Angas' exhibition, the South Australian newspaper published a letter from Nixon.
THE FINE ARTS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN.
Sir – We are told in every shop window of the
town that an exhibition of water color paintings, executed by Mr Angas, is to take place in the Council Room, in a few days.
I have had the good fortune to see most of them; but if I commence to criticise, it will be demanded whether I am a judge, or whether I can draw better myself? ... I venture to offer a few remarks; anticipating, however, that as they will not be enthusiastic in his favor, the general prejudice towards his drawings will overrule anything I have to say.
The style of Mr Angas's drawings is essentially limited, that is – he adopts the same to all his subjects. If he paints a fryingpan, a plate, or a butterfly, he carries the same minute rules, by which he copied them, into his landscapes. Now, all the world know that landscapes, to please, must be drawn with great freedom and spirit, and must possess what artists call "general effect", and require the whole attention towards this as the grand object; for experience proves that, without it, no matter how beautiful soever the work may be in details, it will be insipid, flat, and unattractive. In landscapes, minuteness of detail must bend to this "general effect". ... Have Mr Angas's landscapes a "general effect?" – No. Are they minute in details? – Particularly so. His forte is minuteness – native spears, shields – the natives as subjects ...
As there is an extensive work to be published, it is to be lamented that he did not altogether confine himself to his branch, and that another artist of less celebrity but of real talent – who resides in the colony in comparative obscurity – had not undertaken the landscape part; I allude to Mr Gill. Any one who can comprehend the nature of a landscape drawing, and who has once seen any of his works, would undoubtedly give him the palm, and feel a desire to see others, for coloring, truth, and "general effect" he undoubtedly stands pre-eminent. He confines himself chiefly, I believe, to that one branch of the art; modestly feeling, perhaps, that it is impossible to excel in all.
To those who have not yet had the pleasure of viewing the drawings of this gentleman, I can only recommend them to visit him. His style is particularly pleasing, and where he does venture composition, as in his groups of figures, he is particularly successful. He is rapid – perhaps too much so – in the execution of his works; but this quickness produces that character of life and spirit which always distinguishes his performances, and which is the chief charm about them ...
I do not offer these humble remarks from any invidious feelings, but think it a pity that one man should monopolize eclat for talents which, at best, are equivocal, while another who does possess them should remain unobserved and unnoticed. But it is an every-day occurrence, and therefore ought to be too trite to merit remark.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
N. R. F.6
["N.R.F." was the nom-de-plume for F.R. Nixon.]
One could read Nixon's letter as opinion in a specialist subject, to be accepted or rejected, and the responses to his letter were partly such. But that would be to miss the essence of his complaint, which may've been obscured by frying pan bluntness. Nixon:
James Allen was the first to reply to "N.R.F.". In his editorial the following day7, he identified the name behind the (barely disguised) nom de plume and personally attacked Nixon as a "blastard" who "bilked" him of a guinea with his F.R. Nixon's Twelve Views, &c., 1845! Allen thought Nixon should have shown the respect of reserving his opinion until after the public had had a chance to see the exhibition.
Heat in Allen's reply seemed to emanate from his mentioned long term dislike for Nixon and what he thought was Nixon's impure motive. But Allen too had his own interests. This was his penultimate edition as editor of the South Australian Register. He had already sold the masthead and was looking to his own new project. Neither would Allen have wanted to indirectly offend Fife Angas, chairman of the South Australian Company whose favour he would soon seek.
In fact Gill's "rapid" execution, as observed by Nixon, may have been partly due to him working simultaneously for two clients in May-June 1845 – Allen and Angas.
The controversy generated considerable exchange of letters and editorial. A balanced reply from "A.B." (A.B. Murray?) commented on the non-competitive nature of the Gill-Angas relationship.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN.
SIR–Allow me to offer a few remarks in reference to Mr Angas's exhibition of his drawings, occasioned by the letter signed "N.R.F." in your paper
of Tuesday last. Mr Angas has devoted assiduously some months to the production of a series of drawings, illustrating the scenery, the productions, and the aboriginal inhabitants of our colony and New Zealand. He has done so wholly at the expense of his own time and labor, and at his own risk.
Is it generously timed by "N.R.F." that, on the eve of the public exhibition of his works, a criticism should be put forth; the only effect of which, if
it has any, will be to prejudice your readers against these efforts before they have an opportunity of judging for themselves?
Is it fair to Mr Gill thus to put him forward in opposition to Mr Angas, as though a spirit of jealousy existed between them, which I firmly believe
has no foundation in the minds of either?
... Mr Gill has undisputed talent; and I have no objection to admit that, in some of the requisites of a good water color landscape drawing, he excels Mr
Angas. I am disposed even to go further, and to predict that Mr Gill, if he continue to improve at the same rapid rate he has done lately, will reach considerable eminence. But surely there is no just ground for the complaint your correspondent makes–that Mr Angas chooses to depend on his own talents in his own matters.8
Angas held his three day exhibition. No catalogue is known to be extant. However several works are described in the newspaper reviews and it was reported that Angas exhibited 240 drawings of which nearly 100 were of New Zealand and 40 were connected to South Australia.9 Tellingly the 40 was well short of the 60 plates Angas would finally deliver in "South Australia Illustrated". No pictures of the Adelaide neighbourhood were reported.
The exhibition was reviewed in the Adelaide press. James Allen had a fresh chance at diplomacy in his next (and last) issue as editor and proprietor of the South Australian Register. He reviewed Angas' exhibition himself and this time he was conciliatory and oh so subtle.
Of Mr Angas's sketches of the South Australian natives, too much cannot be said in the way of praise ... Next to the full-length portraits of our South Australian natives, if not before them, the pictures which most attracted our attention, and with which we were best pleased, were the corroboree attitudes, the Kure and Palti dances, the habitations or wurleys of the natives, and their modes of disposing of the dead. Here Mr Angas ... has succeeded to admiration ... as to the native modes of disposing of the dead, we only returned yesterday from inspecting one of those which Mr Angas has delineated ... and can therefore speak to its great fidelity; and, as regards another, we have long had by us a sketch taken by an artist of much skill and experience on the spot, which fully bears out the correctness of Mr Angas's general description.
To the same unqualified praise is Mr Angas entitled for his delineation of native implements and ornaments, of native costumes and weapons. His facilities for acquiring information on these points has been great, or he could not have obtained a tithe of what he evidently possesses in treble the time. We look with no small anxiety for the letter press intended to accompany these delineations, when they appear as "South Australia Illustrated" ...
Of Mr Angas's studies at sea and South Australian landscapes, we regret our inability to speak in the same terms of unqualified approval ... Had we seen them alone, and apart from the delineations to which we have above referred, we might, perhaps, have been led to pronounce highly upon them; but truth compels us to say, that, as a whole, we regard them as much inferior to some of his other productions. Let us not be understood by this, as intending to speak of them
as wanting in faithfulness of outline or as destitute of a high degeee of artistical skill, but only as deficient of that universal power of attractiveness which his other works so pre-eminently possess. Unqualified praise is no praise at all, and this Mr Angas knows as well as ourselves. Whilst we, therefore, admire his figures, his grouping, and his attitudes, inplements, and customs of the natives, he will, we know, allow us to say, both without offence, and without being discouraged in the exercise of any branch of his art, that we look upon the effect of his sea studies as rather too violent, and that, to our mind, in his landscape drawings, too little regard is had to distance, or to that subdued colouring which forms the chief excellence in all such productions.
Still, Mr Angas's landscapes are highly interesting, and are well fitted to convey to those at a distance just ideas, not only of the difference between British and South Australian scenery, but also much of that which is attractive in particular localities, and much of that which is valuable in connexion with our natural history. To speak of defects, real or imaginary, is ever invidious, but to point out excellence is always a pleasing and welcome task. We have much pleasure, therefore, in excepting from the foregoing criticisms several of Mr Angas's landscapes. The sketch of Mount Gambier, and one of its volcanic lakes, is peculiarly interesting, and is said by those competent to judge to be most true to nature. The same may be said of the crater of Mount Schank, and the crater of Mount Gambier. Besides, these objects have this very valuable feature connected with them, that they have never hitherto engaged the pencil of an artist. After all the explorations of this continent, Mr Angas has been the first truly to represent them ...
How Mr Angas could have got through so much work in so short a time is the surprise of every one, and speaks highly for his persevering industry, and his love for his art, as well as his readiness in it ...
Our notice of Mr Angas's South Australian sketches must be concluded with a brief reference to his entomological sketches. Of these he has three sheets intended to form three plates, in his forthcoming work, to be entitled "South Australia Illustrated." Mr Algernon Wilson, long known among as as "NATURAE AMATOR," has furnished the greater part of the subjects for these sketches; and of the sketches themselves too much, we think, cannot be said in praise of their extreme accuracy.10
Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes | Art Gallery of South Australia 20114P25 (links to below). Another excellent landscape, was this the exception Allen made in his criticism of Angas' landscapes? Or was this omitted and instead this Angas watercolour shown?
In referring to Aboriginal "modes of disposing of the dead", Allen refers to a native sepulchre picture by another "artist of much skill and experience" – almost certainly Gill – a picture long in his possession. (Angas would later publish both Gill's and his own "native sepulchre" images.) And in referring to Angas' "facilities for acquiring information" and everyone's "surprise", Allen likely hints at Cawthorne's role in supplying Aboriginal artefacts, information and "letter press" – a task beyond Angas' "industry" in such a brief stay. Allen also acknowledges Charles Algernon Wilson's entomological contribution.
Allen's review was both an A+ and a B-. Later Angas would extensively but selectively quote this article in his London exhibition catalogue. But Angas also invented: "Of Mr Angas's sketches of the South Australian natives and scenery, too much cannot be said in the way of praise." "And scenery" was Angas' invention. This was the whole point of contemporary public criticism of Angas – that he wasn't good at landscape. Angas' two ways around the criticism were to invent praise never given and, we'll see, to claim authorship of landscape works that weren't his.
Cawthorne complained about Angas' lack of acknowledgement. Immediately following the Adelaide exhibition, Cawthorne wrote in his diary:
Ouch!
The purpose of these quotes is not to heap shame on Angas' character, flawed though it may have been. The purpose is to show Angas' propensity to take credit for what was not his, the broader resentment towards him and the consequent emotion behind Nixon's correspondence.
George French Angas left South Australia a fortnight after his art exhibition and its associated controversy. He arrived back in England in February 1846 and soon exhibited at London's Egyptian Hall. Angas published his large work "South Australia Illustrated" and his book "Savage Life and Scenes". A few years later he also lithographed for the book "Description of the Barossa Range and its neighbourhood in South Australia".
To see the use Angas made of Gill's works, see: George French Angas in London and S.T. Gill.
The purpose of this project is the study of Gill's early works. The commentary of Nixon, Allen and Cawthorne are all clues to what was happening in 1844/1845. We now consider the matter of a concealed signature.
The very large watercolour A native corroboree at night (NLA NK2124) (see below) seems to include Angas, Cawthorne and Kadlitpinna (Captain Jack) in the scene. (See Hercus and Simpson for more on Kadlitpinna.) Appleyard catalogued this work as unsigned. No signature was visible in the digitised image.
I studied the physical object in June 2021. By that time I'd already identified the figures in the scene. Although flat, a watercolour is still a 3D object and sometimes the fall of light shows what an online image doesn't. The lower left of the image – where Gill would typically sign – is a dense black background. Given this was one of Gill's largest works and it had such a dark background I looked hard for a signature. I tried various angles and for a moment I was sure I'd found one. But I couldn't repeat this observation. Beginning to doubt myself, I gave up and took some photos (non-flash of course) of the lower left corner. Image manipulation software did the rest.
Manipulated image (left) of the signature on NLA NK2124, showing initials and perhaps a date.
Why would colonial artist S.T. Gill sign a painting in black on a black background? (Assuming colour fade was not a significant factor.) One possible explanation is that Gill intended his signature escape notice. Perhaps Gill painted this watercolour for Cawthorne, who first studied with Gill on 22 February 1845, but why would he want to hide the signature? Perhaps this was among several unsigned pictures Gill painted for Angas' use.
Angas was not the only one for whom Gill would so paint. In 1862-63 he began a similar exercise for J.T. Doyle for pictures to be "published under Doyle's name as his own original work."11 Gill disguised his own initials in works intended for Doyle.
I also conclude that Gill painted other watercolours for Angas and intentionally left them unsigned.
Angas' claim to authorship in his exhibition and books has meant Gill's creations have been overlooked. The typical past logic is straightforward:
Despite this long enduring logical tendency, the evidence points to Gill having been commissioned to create works for Angas's project – works which, likely by agreement, Angas could claim as his own and publish.
Thanks to John Howard Angas's diary in October 1844 (above) we know Gill was engaged by the Angases in the Barossa while George French was away in New Zealand. It would not surprise if the understanding was that those works were intended for publication in "Description of the Barossa Range and its neighbourhood in South Australia".
It would be no more surprise if Gill was also commissioned for Angas's "South Australian Illustrated". Under such an arrangement, Gill would effectively be a "ghost artist" for Angas – Angas would be able to publish and take credit for the works. For such a purpose Gill's pictures would be unsigned. It would likely have been necessary too for Angas to keep Gill's works under wraps until after he left Adelaide, and this would be one explanation for Angas omitting from his exhibition some Adelaide neighbourhood views and landscapes.
The prime example is The City of Adelaide from Mr. Wilson's Section on the Torrens, June 1845. The style is characterically Gill's (and not Angas's); it is an excellent landscape and would have been noted by Allen if it was on show in Adelaide. A second example is Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes.
The Gill-Angas arrangement would need to have been kept secret. Cawthorne makes no mention of Gill painting for Angas. Even Nixon, having seen Gill busy in his studio, revealed no knowledge of Gill's client. However there is the slightest hint in James Allen's reviews that he may have known about the arrangement. Allen already owned a native sepulchre picture by Gill and was good friends with (and a co-religionist of) Gill's father. And Allen himself commissioned Gill around the same time or immediately after Angas.
Philip Jones' book Illustrating the Antipodes : George French Angas in Australia & New Zealand, 1844-1845 was released in August 2021 (in conjnction with an exhibition). I disagree with his attribution of several works.
Jones said several pictures were Angas' copies of Gill's work.
... a watercolour of the [Agricultural and Horticultural Show] by Angas, auctioned in 2011, has been considered to be a copy of an S.T. Gill original. [90. The Angas watercolour was sold at auction by Bonham's Australia in August 2011, initially described as an Angas original, but amended before the auction to indicate its status as a copy of Gill's original.]12
And:
[Angas] had apparently ignored the opportunity to depict the Horticultural Show, possibly aware that S.T. Gill's painting was available to be copied. [15] George French would copy at least three other Gill paintings, one depicting the departure of Captain Sturt's expedition from Adelaide on 10 August 1844 ... Angas based his engraving Elevated Native Tomb at Myponga Vale ... on his watercolour copy [SAM AA8/4/1] of Gill's original watercolour.
[15. ... A comparison of Gill's original painting with the Angas copy, auctioned by Bonham's Australia in 2011, reveals a number of key differences (not the least being Angas' detailed treatment of smaller background figures), but Angas retained the distinctive colour scheme of Gill's original.]13
But Jones is mistaken in his reference to the Bonham's auction. The watercolours were initially attributed to Angas – presumably based on family provenance and a small title plate – but the saleroom notices for lot 30 and lot 31 re-attributed them to S.T. Gill and not "a copy of Gill's original".
Native tomb, Myponga (SAM AA8/4/1) was until recently attributed by SA Museum to Gill. I argue this picture is by Gill, and not an Angas copy, both below and at S.T. Gill – Subject – Native Sepulchre.
This article identifies paintings by S.T. Gill probably for George French Angas (or for the Angas family) based on style, subject matter and provenance.
Significantly I identify A native corroboree at night (NLA NK2124) as portraying Angas and, through discovery of a concealed signature, likely being for him as part of a secret commission.
I identify a watercolour, The City of Adelaide from Mr. Wilson's Section on the Torrens, June 1845 (AGSA 721HP1) – until now attributed to Angas – as a work by Gill. It is a landscape that "wasn't ready" for the Adelaide exhibition. This landscape was so good that Angas used it as plate 1 for "South Australia Illustrated".
I attribute to Gill two other watercolours, previously attributed to Angas: Scene showing emus in a plain (AGSA 721HP4) and Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes (AGSA 20114P25). Both were used for plates in "South Australia Illustrated".
Also identified as being for Angas are two watercolours of Angas provenance bought by the National Gallery of Australia in 2011: Sturt's overland expedition leaving Adelaide 1844 (NGA 2012.1307) and the Agricultural & Horticultural Exhibition, Adelaide, 1845 (NGA 2012.25). The significance of the A&H Exhibition picture is that Angas himself is a central character along with "Charlie". The Angas provenance of the Sturt's departure picture is important as this helped identify the central character there as likely to be Angas' main South Australian booster, Governor George Grey. This same central character appears in the large panorama of the same scene (AGSA 0.1128).
Two other watercolours are included in this group, having come to public ownership from J. Angas Johnson whose collection was both by Angas family inheritance and by purchase: Native tomb, Myponga (SAM AA8/4/1) and Extinct Crater, North of Spencer Gulf, South Australia (AGSA 0.614).
Two views are also included, being at the Gawler River at a time Gill was known to be sketching there for John Howard Angas: The Gawler River (AGSA 795HP30) and Rhodes's Cattle Station on the Gawler, Section 471, November 1844 (AGSA 986P53).
A wash drawing of Aboriginal men and two colonists hunting kangaroos is also included as being for Angas.
It is significant that most of these Gill works were unsigned and that this was likely part of a ghost artist deal.
Klemzig, Angas, a German Hay Wagon and Chickens
December 2023 update: Analysis of a pencil sketch of the German village of Klemzig. A comparison of the Klemzig pictures of F.R. Nixon, G. F. Angas and S.T. Gill. I re-attribute the sketch from Angas to Gill, revealing more of the collaboration between them.
To see how Angas used these and more Gill pictures see: George French Angas in London and S.T. Gill.
To see these works, with accompanying notes, just scroll down or jump to the List of Works.
Angas, George French. A Catalogue of Paintings by George French Angas, Illustrative of the Natives and Scenery of New Zealand and South Australia : Also Sketches in Brazil, Cape Verde Islands, New South Wales, &c. &c. S.n., 1846. Accessed 24 Dec 2020. <https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/lg5tom/SLNSW_ALMA21143884040002626>
Grishin, Sasha. & Gill, Samuel Thomas. & Doyle, John Thomas. & Mitchell Library (N.S.W.). (1993). Dr. Doyle's sketches in Australia : a collection of prints from the original watercolour drawings in the Mitchell Library. Sydney : Mitchell Library Press and Centaur Press
Hercus, L. A. and Simpson, Jane Helen. and Aboriginal History Inc. History in portraits : biographies of nineteenth century South Australian Aboriginal people / edited by Jane Simpson and Luise Hercus Aboriginal History Inc Canberra 1998
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.
Detailed notes each include a link to the map location for the view where available.
Dates in the descriptive text are generally in yyyy-mm-dd format and more specifically in Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF).
The Gawler River | Art Gallery of South Australia 795HP30
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844-11 | Appleyard cat. 22 | 26.2(H) x 37.8(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill at Angas' Barossa 1844
The scene is of a pool on the Gawler River. At middle left are cattle and beyond them a dwelling and post and rail fence. This is one of Gill's earliest self-dated colonial paintings – November 1844. Signed STG/Nov//44.
Appleyard (26) thinks this work is a pair with "Rhodes's Cattle Station on the Gawler, Section 471, November 1844" (private collection) with both scenes being on the Angas' Section 471 on the Gawler River. Gill was known to be sketching in the area at the time for John Howard Angas, the brother of George French Angas.
The AGSA link is not available but the image can be viewed at https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/galleries/australian-sketchbook-st-gill.
Map | S. T. Gill - South Australia
36
Rhodes's Cattle Station on the Gawler, Section 471, November 1844 | Art Gallery of South Australia 986P53
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844-11 | Appleyard cat. 23 | 27(H) x 38(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill at Angas' Barossa 1844
The scene is of a pool on the Gawler River with a stream winding behind the trees. At middle right are cattle, a dwelling and post and rail fence.
Reverse inscriptions: Rodes's [sic.] Cattle Station / Secn 471 (u.r.) and Rhodes's Cattle Station on the Gawler, Section 471 ... November 1844 (u.l.).
Appleyard (26) thinks this work is a pair with AGSA 795HP30 and that both scenes are on the Angas' Section 471 on the Gawler River. Gill was known to be sketching in the area at the time for John Howard Angas, the brother of George French Angas.
Unsigned. See Appleyard, 54 for a full page monochrome reproduction of this picture.
Map | S. T. Gill - South Australia
37
A native corroboree at night | National Library of Australia NK2124
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844 | Appleyard cat. 37 | 42.7(H) x 63.5(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
An Aboriginal corroboree around a fire on a full moon; sparsely treed hills in the background; men dance with spears and wirris; spectators seated at left provide accompaniment. Three main characters at right watch the corroboree: an aboriginal man standing with long spear and two white men behind him, one standing with curly hair and fat tummy, the other mounted on a horse.
This is a very large watercolour. Although extremely difficult to see in its dark background, the picture is signed lower left "STG ..." (possibly but not confidently "Nov/44") in black. Given the approximate date and the men's appearance we have a reasonable chance of identifying them. They are likely to be (left to right): Kadlitpinna (Captain Jack), George French Angas, W.A. Cawthorne.
"Mr Angas I should say was about two and twenty, perhaps less – small of stature about 5ft 6in at the most – thickish set in the body ..." (Cawthorne, page before 3 Feb 1844)
"I am going to take Capt Jack (one of the Aborigines is called) up to Mr Angas in full dress as a warrior – oiled – painted – decorated &c. &c. precisely as they dress themselves when a fight takes place – to be drawn." (Cawthorne, 3 Feb 1844)
"This evening I went down to the natives with Mr Angas and Fooks to see the "Cure Palti" performed again. Mr A. took a sketch of them and I have to describe it." (Cawthorne, 3 April 1844)
The signature was was only discernable when viewed at a particular angle to the paper. It was then made more distinct using image manipulation software. Why would Gill sign in black on a black background? One explanation is that Gill intended his signature escape notice. (He does this with less disguise in Dr. Doyle's Sketch Book.) Perhaps Gill painted this watercolour for Cawthorne, who first studied with Gill on 22 February 1845, but why would he want to hide the signature? Perhaps this was among several unsigned pictures Gill painted for Angas' use. (At this stage I'm not aware of provenance beyond Nan Kivell, but this may be pursued.)
At some time this scene had been thought to be snow-capped mountains, as reflected by an earlier title: "Corroboree, Mt. Leura and Mt. Sugar Loaf, near Camperdown, Victoria". The mountains are in fact moonlit (and heightened with white).
See also S.T. Gill - Subject - Corroboree.
Reference: Cawthorne, W.A. Diary (Literarium diarium), Mitchell Library, SLNSW.
41
Native tomb, Myponga | South Australian Museum AA8/4/1
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844-05~ | Appleyard cat. 39 | 18.5(H) x 28.5(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The scene is an Aboriginal elevated mortuary platform near a stream, with birds descending and a pair of dingoes below. Sparsely treed hills are in the background. Grass tree and honeysuckle are represented.
I shall refer to this as the Angas/SA Museum picture. Gill painted two almost identical watercolours of this scene, the other being the Eyre/RCS picture for E.J. Eyre. One would think they were likely executed within days of each other, likely in May 1844.
George French Angas reproduced this as plate 2 in his "Savage Life and Scenes", published in November 1846. George French Angas' 1846 London exhibition included a work of a similar description: No. 209 "Elevated Native Tomb at Myponga" which is likely this work.
Reverse inscription: Native Sepulchre near Myponga Plains by T.S. Gill, 1844. Front inscription (lower right): Native Tomb / Myponga / T.S. Gill.
Provenance: J. Angas Johnson (whose collection was both by Angas family inheritance and by purchase).
Tregenza noted: "The lithograph 'Elevated Native Tomb, Myponga Vale, South Australia' printed on p. 70 in the first volume of Savage Life and Scenes is definitely based, down to the last detail, on a fine watercolour by S.T. Gill of similar title now in the South Australian Museum (acc. no 1484)." (Tregenza 1982, 17)
Appleyard catalogued this work as a Gill. In referring to the Angas plate he noted it was "wrongly labelled as being based on an original work by Angas, not Gill". (Appleyard 1986, 63)
Philip Jones of the SA Museum stated this was an Angas watercolour copied from Gill's Eyre/RCS picture. "While retaining the general composition and colouring of Gill's original ... Angas altered at least half a dozen details." (Jones 2021, 283 & note 17). Jones gives no evidence for his opinion that it is by Angas rather than by Gill. In titling this work in his book, Jones introduces doubt where there is none by surrounding T.S. Gill with quotation marks that are absent from both front and back captions. T.S. Gill is the attribution Angas himself gives to other Gill originals – see S.T. Gill and James Allen, 1845.
As recently as 2017, SA Museum attributed this watercolour to Gill: <https://web.archive.org/web/20170425094252/http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/aa8/AA8-04.htm>. Now (September 2021) the museum attributes it to Angas: <https://web.archive.org/web/20210929014040/https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/collection/archives/provenances/series/items/aa8-4-1>. I contacted the museum to enquire as to the rationale for their changed attribution.
The image for this work is not available online at SAM but is shown here from "Illustrating the Antipodes" (Jones 2021, 282-283).
See also S.T. Gill - Subject - Native Sepulchre.
207
The Flower Show | National Gallery of Australia 2012.25
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1845-02~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 25.5(H) x 38.5(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The Agricultural and Horticultural Exhibition was held in Adelaide on Friday 14 February 1845 on the Park Lands to the northeast of the city. This is a rear view of the exhibition showing the carriage entrance; behind is the 120 foot long main pavillion and three smaller marquees set amongst the gum trees. In 1845, the carriage entrance was "at the gate on North Terrace, at the corner of the Frome Bridge Road." In this scene a four-wheel carriage arrives accompanied by two mounted policemen - likely that of the Governor, George Grey.
Gill painted rear views such as this one (showing the carriage entrance) and also front views. It is unusual for Gill that Aboriginal people are missing from this picture.
This painting has excellent provenance from the family of George French Angas.
A man is prominent near centre foreground, wearing a white suit and dark cap and holding a cane and blue scarf behind his back. It is Angas himself. (The appearance is very much like the 1848 lithograph portrait of Angas.) The child beside Angas is "Charlie". The man with the dog on a lead could well be Gill (compare AGSA 0.648).
In his diaries, W.A. Cawthorne wrote on 15 February 1845, describing this very scene and reporting the start of his studentship under S.T. Gill:
"Saturday Morning Feb 15. Yesterday ... the great agricultural show of this colony came off. Hundreds were present. The show was under a canvas pavilion erected in a [rural?] spot of the Park Land about ½ mile from our house. A great abundance of fruit was there – wool – a [piece?] of manufactured cloth – a cast bell – steam engine 4 horse power – a fine sun dial and stand – all colonial – tobacco, wheat, barley, onions, tomatoes, potatoes (immense), melons of all descriptions, candles, maize, soap, wine, cheese, butter &c &c. The greatest display was in fruit. Upon the whole there was a greater variety of articles this year but not so large a quantity of each as last year. The Governor distributed the prizes. All & every one as the lawyers say of the respectability was present. I saw Angas – but he was [fainting?] about Charlie who would take no notice of him [?]. I have this morning visited an artist to see whether he will take and learn me painting. He asks 12g. per annum.
"Saturday. I have drawn a rough sketch to show my future master (Mr Gill) on Monday. Oh! ye Gods grant that it may please and be the means of lowering his high price and become within the limited range of my pocket ammunition. Grant it Jupiter for Plutus' sake. Amen."
Philip Jones identifies "Charlie" as Charles Lord (Jones 2021, 19).
It is very likely that Gill painted this for Angas who went on to show it in his April 1846 London exhibition as "142. Annual Horticultural Show, in the Park Lands, Adelaide".
Bought in 2011 by NGA, the Bonham's catalogue entry originally listed this as by Angas but then attributed it to Gill. A high resolution image is available at the Bonham's link.
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide
337
Agricultural and Horticultural Exhibition, Adelaide, 1845 | Private collection
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1845-02~ | Appleyard cat. 71
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The Agricultural and Horticultural Exhibition was held in Adelaide on Friday 14 February 1845 on the Park Lands to the northeast of the city. This is a rear view of the exhibition showing the carriage entrance and behind the 120 foot long main pavillion and three smaller marquees set amongst the gum trees. In 1845, the carriage entrance was "at the gate on North Terrace, at the corner of the Frome Bridge Road." Gill painted rear views such as this (showing the carriage entrance) as well as front views. In this scene a four-wheel carriage arrives accompanied by two mounted policemen - likely that of the Governor, George Grey.
It is an almost identical view to the Angas provenanced NGA 2012.25. In both pictures the placement is near identical for: woman with scales (centre foreground), blue / grey painted German cart (right), foreground and middleground trees, the Governor's four-wheel carriage and mounted police.
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide
240
Sturt's overland expedition leaving Adelaide 1844 | National Gallery of Australia 2012.1307
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1845-02~/1845-06~ | Appleyard cat. 80.3 | 24.8(H) x 38.4(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The scene is the departure from Adelaide of Charles Sturt's Great Northern Expedition on 10 August 1844 ("side-on" view).
The cavalcade is proceeding from Grenfell Street at the right of picture and turning into and continuing north along King William Street. The view is northeast, looking from a vacant block (acre 140) diagonally across the intersection to Montefiore's store (acre 108), behind and to the right of which are the South Australian Company buldings on Rundle Street (acre 44).The building at right is Montefiore's house. (Noticably absent from this picture are Gill's street dogs.)
This "side-on" view differs from the "head-on" view of AGSA 0.644 and predates the King William Street premises (acre 79) of surgeon dentist Robert Norman built between April and July 1845.
This painting has excellent provenance from the family of George French Angas. It is very likely that Gill painted this for Angas who went on to show it in his April 1846 London exhibition as "144. Starting of Captain Sturt from Adelaide, on his Expedition into the Interior, in August 1844". Angas departed Adelaide for Sydney and London on 2 July 1845. I think this painting was painted after Angas' 22 January 1845 return to Adelaide and before completion of Norman's.
There are two top-hatted gentlemen in a two wheeled vehicle, with the near man in the grey coat probably being Governor George Grey. That being the case, the other man could be Captain O'Halloran, Grey's Private Secretary. These gentlemen also appear in AGSA 0.1128.
There are two chickens and a rooster – a device frequently used by Gill. See Klemzig, Angas, a German Hay Wagon and Chickens.
Bought in 2011 by NGA. See Bonham's auction catalogue entry with high resolution image.
See also S.T. Gill - Subject - Sturt's Departure 1844.
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide
252
Extinct Crater, North of Spencer Gulf, South Australia | Art Gallery of South Australia 0.614
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1845 | Appleyard cat. 27.1 | 17.8(H) x 28.5(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The view is of a rock formation seen on Captain E.C. Frome's 1843 northern expedition, which at the time was thought to be a volcanic crater. Two expeditioners and two Aboriginal people are in this scene.
Gill's original image is likely based on Frome's watercolour. Gill did an early version of this scene for E.J. Eyre (SLNSW-M PX*D 73 f.5).
This 1845 signed and dated picture by Gill is likely to have been painted for George French Angas. (Provenance: J. Angas Johnson whose collection was both by Angas family inheritance and by purchase.)
It's also likely this is the waterolour exhibited by Angas in London in 1846 as "210. An Extinct Crater, northwards of the settled districts." The signature and date is miniscule and would have been virtually invisible hanging in an exhibition.
See Appleyard, 13 for a full page colour reproduction of this picture.
198
First view of the salt desert - called Lake Torrens | Art Gallery of South Australia 709HP15
Artist: Frome, E.C. | Date: 1843~/1845~ | 15.7(H) x 27.8(W) cm
Main listing: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The view is of Lake Frome - called Lake Torrens at the time.
"July 31st ...We walked up one of the hills and saw the lake about 20 miles to the E. of us running North & South... August 2nd, We started for the lake... We rode across a barren plain with nothing on it but a few stunted salt bushes and in about two hours and a half we came to the shores of the far famed Lake Torrens. It was by far the most dreary and desolate sight I ever saw. The lake, if it can be called such, was an extensive plain of sand covered with salt... The salt on the sand was what had appeared to us like water at a distance." (Extract from George Hawker's journal. Auhl & Marfleet, 102.)
Given Frome lost his sketchbook on the 1843 expedition this may be based on a sketch by companion James Henderson. Attributed to E.C. Frome in AGSA catalogue and Auhl & Marfleet, 1977 (89).
Reference:
Auhl, Ian. & Frome, Edward Charles. & Marfleet, Denis. & Henderson, James. & Hawker, George Charles. (1977). Journey to Lake Frome 1843 : paintings and sketches by Edward Charles Frome and James Henderson. Blackwood, S.A : Lynton Publications
Map | S. T. Gill and Frome expedition 1843
595
Scene showing emus in a plain (Coorong) | Art Gallery of South Australia 721HP4
Artist: Gill, S.T. (attr.) | Date: 1844-06~/1845-06~ | 23(H) x 32.5(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
This scene is not a standalone plate in "South Australia Illustrated" but was used in the composite image on the cover of each section.
A water body appears in the distance, emus in the foreground among low vegetation. The image is quite like Frome's "First view of the salt desert - called Lake Torrens" (AGSA 709HP15) but with emus added. That view is actually Lake Frome (which was known as Lake Torrens at the time).
This work may correspond to Angas' London exhibition no. 186 "Lake Torrens, sunset during a 'sirocco'".
Jones (2021) says this watercolour "[by Angas] appears to be a combination of one of Angas's own watercolours of emus ... with [James] Henderson's mirage-like Lake Torrens shimmering in the distance through a dust storm." (105-107) (I earlier incorrectly stated Jones didn't discuss this work.) The dust storm picture is presently attributed not to Henderson but to E.C. Frome in AGSA catalogue and Auhl & Marfleet, 1977 (89). Jones doesn't explain the Henderson attribution.
The sunset sky is similar to Gill's Horrocks picture, AGSA 0.1253. Foreground detail similar to AGSA 20114P25 (Mount Gambier) suggests Gill, not Angas, as the author of this work (albeit based on another work by Frome).
592
Klemzig village, South Australia, ca. 1846 | National Library of Australia R6521
Artist: Gill, S.T. (attr.) | Date: 1845-03~/1845-06~ | 17.8(H) x 26.2(W) cm
Catalogue: Klemzig, Angas, a German Hay Wagon and Chickens
A view of the main street of Klemzig. Prominent in the scene are the buildings lining the street on both sides; the Lutheran church with its bell tower at left. Compared with Nixon's print this pencil sketch shifts its viewpoint to the right, omits a house at near left and adds half a house at right.
This pencil sketch is in George French Angas' "Sketchbook no. 3". Pencil caption (l.r.) appears to read "Klemzig village". It is the same scene as plate 12 "Klemzic. A Village of German settlers near Adelaide" in Angas's "South Australia Illustrated". It is also the same view as, albeit with less content than, F R Nixon's print "Klemzig (German Village on the Torrens)" (February 1845).
In the middle foreground is a very lightly pencilled German hay wagon which appears the same in Angas' print but slightly different in Nixon's. The woman looking to the viewer at right is similar in the sketch and Angas' print. There are also two empty hay wagons further down the street. Other detail is the same too. Four fowl peck the ground.
This sketch is very likely the preliminary sketch for the watercolour AGSA 721HP6 in which the hay wagon has been fully realised and the goat inserted from Angas's figure studies.
I conclude this pencil sketch is likely by Gill for Angas.
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide District
509
Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes | National Library of Australia NK7073/6
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844-06~/1845-06~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 16(H) x 19.6(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
A view (west) showing Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes with two Aboriginal people reclining at the lake edge. Ducks are on the lake. The lake walls seem sloped, not straight sided.
George French Angas accompanied Governor Grey's expedition to S.E. South Australia in April-May 1844 and the party explored this place on 6 May 1844 noting the "numerous ducks" on the lake.
Gill's signature and style are consistent with him having drawn this during Angas' South Australian visits in 1844 and 1845. Given we have no suggestion Gill visited Mount Gambier at the time, we can deduce that Gill based his picture on another's original sketch – probably either Angas or Alexander Tolmer.
The watercolour AGSA 20114P25 - at time of writing titled "Blue Lake" and attributed to Angas - seems to be based on this sketch. Note the similar group of three trees on the lake bank (left middle). However there are differences in the scale of the lake, noting particularly the height of vegetation on the right distant shore.
It is informative to compare this view with Eugene von Guerard's sketches (SLNSW DL PXX 14) and the local topography. This picture is probably intended to represent Blue Lake with its steep walls, but it is not topographically correct, and the view seems foreshortened (eliminating Valley Lake) for effect.
Signed "STG".
See also S.T. Gill - Subject - Mount Gambier.
Map | S. T. Gill - South Australia
108
Blue Lake, Mount Gambier | Art Gallery of South Australia 20114P25
Artist: Gill, S.T. (attr.) | Date: 1844-06~/1845-06~ | 24.7(H) x 34(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
The scene is Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes. The lake walls seem more steeply sloped than in the wash drawing. Birds fly across the lake and sit in a (sheoak?) tree. Rising smoke to the left of Mount Gambier likely suggests the presence of Aboriginal people.
George French Angas accompanied Governor Grey's expedition to S.E. South Australia in April-May 1844 and the party explored this place on 6 May 1844 noting the "numerous ducks" on the lake.
This watercolour was the basis for plate 17 of Angas' "South Australia Illustrated": "Mount Gambier, with one of its volcanic lakes (after sunset)". This work may be that in Angas' London exhibition no. 181 "Mount Gambier and one of its volcanic lakes".
This work is very similar to Gill's 1844/1845 wash drawing (NLA NK7073/6) but differs in a grander scale for the lake and larger and more numerous waterbirds. Note the similar three trees on the lake wall (left middle). The most straightforward explanation would be that this grander watercolour was developed from Gill's humbler picture (and not the other way round).
This watercolour is likely by Gill. The foreground vegetation detail is consistent with Gill's style. The sunset sky is also similar to Gill's Horrocks picture, AGSA 0.1253. It was most likely painted around May-June 1845 when Angas was in Adelaide finalising material for "South Australia Illustrated".
Just like NLA NK7073/6 this picture is probably intended to represent Blue Lake with its steep walls, but it is not topographically correct, and the view seems foreshortened (eliminating Valley Lake) for effect.
This may be one of the pictures Angas was selling in Melbourne in April 1851. Provenance: Douglas and Barbara Mullins 2011.
See also S.T. Gill - Subject - Mount Gambier.
Map | S. T. Gill - South Australia
487
Kangaroo hunting, Eyre Peninsula | Art Gallery of South Australia 20114P26
Artist: Gill, S.T. (attr.) | Date: 1845-05~/1846~ | 23.4(H) x 32.4(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
This work corresponds with Angas' London exhibition no. 202 "Kangaroo Hunting, country westward of Port Lincoln, with Albert's Peak in distance". This is also the watercolour for plate 19 in Angas's "South Australia Illustrated".
It appears based on a Port Lincoln landscape sketch NLA R6411 dated 7 May 1845.
This unsigned watercolour incorporates action in Gill's wash drawings such as NLA NK7063/15 or NLA R117 (for James Allen). The kangaroos here look just as unrealistic as those in the wash drawings and the number and positiion of riders, dogs and kangaroos are almost identical.
This would suggest one of three possibilities - that this watercolour may have been painted:
1. by Angas in London after Angas borrowed Gill's "Hunting the Kangaroo" (NLA R117) from Allen or the SA Company – around mid-1846;
2. by Angas in South Australia (using Gill's action figures); or
3. by Gill for Angas before he left South Australia in July 1845.
If painted in South Australia it was likely painted around May-June 1845 after Angas returned from Port Lincoln.
This may be one of the pictures Angas was selling in Melbourne in April 1851. [Provenance: Douglas and Barbara Mullins 2011.]
I think it is more likely by Gill than Angas.
546
The City of Adelaide from Mr. Wilson's Section on the Torrens, June 1845 | Art Gallery of South Australia 721HP1
Artist: Gill, S.T. (attr.) | Date: 1845-06~ | 24.5(H) x 32.8(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
On the reverse in pencil: "City of Adelaide – from Mr Wilson's selection – June 1845" (Tregenza, 1982, 34)
This watercolour is the original for plate 1 in Angas' "South Australia Illustrated" – "The City of Adelaide from the Torrens near the Reed Beds". A picture with this title was also shown in Angas' 1846 Egyptian Hall exhibition (no. 184).
A windmill is just prominent centre (with a reddish coloured tower) and a second one further to the right. These are likely the windmills on the western side of Adelaide (north to south): Phillips' mill (acre 186) corner Waymouth St and West Terrace; and City Mill on Wright Street (acre 464). Phillips' brick mill (readily recognised in other Gill paintings) had its sails disabled by lightning in February 1845 and by April was being fitted as a steam mill.
Through a gap in the trees (middle left) one glimpses buildings on North Terrace – seemingly Trinity Church with its tower, which was so iconically used in portrayals of the city from the northwest (Martha Berkeley, F.R. Nixon). However this detail is omitted from the plate by London lithographer J.W. Giles.
Until now this watercolour has been attributed to George French Angas and has Angas family provenance. It is unsigned. However, it is clearly by S.T. Gill and would have been done by him for Angas in 1845, this explaining the Angas provenance.
The style used for the gum leaves is Gill, not Angas. The characteristic dead gum tree sticks are also Gill. This picture is much like several other Gill watercolours at this time, namely: "Rhodes's Cattle Station on the Gawler, Section 471, November 1844" (Appleyard cat. 23, AGSA 986P53); and "The Gawler River" (Appleyard cat. 22; AGSA 795HP30). If Angas had painted this and thought it significant enough to include Trinity Church, one would've expect him to have wanted it in the plate. The church is so small in Gill's watercolour that Angas when lithographing may not have noticed it.
In Adelaide in June 1845 it was noted that Gill was a landscape specialist, whereas it was a weakness of Angas and Adelaide neighbourhood views and landscapes were omitted from Angas' exhibition.
The title is from a reverse inscription. (I haven't yet sighted it.) Thomas Wilson (1787-1863) was Adelaide mayor 1842-43 and was an art aficionado. His son, Charles Algernon Wilson (1818-1884) was acknowledged as an entomologist on Plate 48 of Angas's "South Australia Illustrated".
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide District
150
North Terrace, Adelaide | Art Gallery of South Australia 0.628
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1845-06~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 27.2(H) x 40(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
This is an almost identical view to AGSA 0.648 for James Allen (1845) and is the same size. In this version Gill seems to have (accidentally?) omitted the sloping front roof line of Trinity Church - something not apparent in other views.
The viewpoint is a little bit further west than 0.648 and shows at right acres 6 to 9. There are two bullock drays, one loaded with wool bales. The Mount Lofty ranges are the backdrop for the city. Of particular interest is that this scene includes the Black Swan (acre 7) with its street light. John Shand gained a beer and wine licence for this inn on 9 June 1845 and this helps us date the scene. See AGSA 0.648 for a description of more buildings in this picture.
The character at left, near two busy dogs, is likely intended as the artist himself, and there are no Aboriginal people apparent in this scene. This work shares these attributes with AGSA 0.648.
The work was a gift from Angas' brother, J H Angas, 1902. Signed (l.r.) G.F. Angas. Later caption on mount "[Sketch (struck out)] by George French Angas | North Terrace, Adelaide 1844". Angas' Adelaide exibition opened on 18 June 1845 and he left Adelaide on 2 July. Combined with the date of the Black Swan licence, this suggest Gill painted this in June, and, given the signature and provenance, he painted it for Angas.
It was originally attributed to Angas and appeared as such in the newspaper: Chronicle, 1 October 1931: 31. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90638698>.
Thanks to AGSA for catalogue notes and a high resolution scan of this work.
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide
776
Aborigines and white men hunting kangaroos | National Library of Australia NK1196
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1844-06~/1845-06~ | Appleyard cat. n/a | 24(H) x 37.1(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845
Aboriginal men and two colonists hunt kangaroos from scrub at the bottom of a hill running onto a broad grassy flat. One of the white men has a kangaroo dog; the other fires a gun.
This work may correspond to Angas' London exhibition no. 207 "Kangaroo hunting in the scrub, near Moorundi".
In April 1851 Angas had for sale in Melbourne a work titled "Kangaroo Shooting, South Australia" (Empire, 18 April 1851: 3 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60034199>).
These references, combined with the absence of a known Angas equivalent, suggest the London and Melbourne pictures were this unsigned work by Gill.
122
David Coombe, 2021-2025. Original November 2021. Updated 25 July 2025. | text copyright (except where indicated)
CITE THIS: David Coombe, 2021-2025, S.T. Gill and George French Angas, 1844-1845, accessed dd mmm yyyy, <https://coombe.id.au/S_T_Gill/S_T_Gill_and_George_French_Angas_1844_1845.htm>