Reference: see Elders Fine Art Auction, Important Australian & International Paintings, 24th November, 2019:
Lot 27
WILLIAM LIGHT (1786-1839)
Surveyor General of the Colony of South Australia
"Commencement of colonisation of South Australia"
Watercolour on Hand Made Paper
35x50cm
Bears illegible Signature or Inscription Lower Right
This work is to be sold in “as found” condition. Conservation report by Art Conservator David Button, Adelaide.
Prov. Private Collection. Adelaide.
This is arguably the most thrilling and significant watercolour to come up for sale in the history of South Australia.
It is the history of South Australia.
Moreover, it is an exquisite painting created on-the-spot by Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor General of the Colony of South Australia, the man whose peerless mapping of the City of Adelaide, an elegant square mile ringed by airy parklands, is admired and celebrated to this day.
This watercolour has been lost to the world for 182 years. Its discovery, in a camphor-wood chest in Victor Harbor, has ruffled the country’s history books because it turns out to be the first painting of the settlement of the City of Adelaide. It pre-dates the celebrated work which proudly has graced the Art Gallery of SA walls, heralded as William Light’s first representation of the city in creation.
The existence of this work came as a complete surprise.
It has taken a year of diligent and fastidious research to establish the authenticity of the find. Art experts, historians, and genealogists have worked with fascination and excitement. Every detail of the painting and its materials have been scrutinised and compared with the details in the familiar work. Both studies were painted plein-air by Light from the same spot, looking over towards the Mount Lofty Ranges from close to the River Torrens amidst the earliest structures, the main one being Light’s own headquarters which were later lost to fire.
Wood and fire were a vital element of early life and thus one of the most outstanding clues to the chronology of the two Colonel Light Adelaide Settlement paintings. The familiar Art Gallery one was sent to London by Light’s agent, F.W. Collard of Briggs, Thurburn and Co., to be engraved by Robert Havell and published by Elder Smith in May, 1837. It went on sale on February 15, 1838.
This now famous work depicts an open expanse ahead of the scene of carts, tents, and crude settlement buildings. The newly-discovered work depicts a foreground of woodcutters, axes, and felled tree. Clearly men are engaged in gathering wood for fires and huts. There are other dead trees around the place. But none to be seen in the Gallery work. The dead trees are gone. The two paintings are of the same scene, but the activities therein have changed.
It is estimated the new find was painted between January 1837 and April 1837, at least a month ahead of the other one.
And, ironically, it is a better painting with more detail and better colour. It shows early cattle grazing beside the Torrens, cattle whose delivery from Hobart to the new colony by Colonel Light’s orders has been traced to January, 1837 aboard the ship Africaine.
It shows crows wheeling in the sky. It shows clouds billowing over the Mt Lofty Ranges. Interestingly, the cloud covers of the Adelaide Hills were one of Light’s decision-makers in choosing Adelaide as the settlement place. He saw them as a promise of good micro climate and water sources.
William Light was a prolific painter and sketcher. His sketchbook was always with him and most of his works are from its pages. He painted Encounter Bay, the other potential choice for the city settlement. He painted Port Adelaide. He painted the first formal buildings on North Terrace and he painted early homesteads in the Barossa. These are just some of the works which have survived. William Light painted everything and the loss of most of his paintings, diaries, and papers in a fire at his home was a cruel blow to history and to art.
This painting was well preserved at least for the last 30-40 years while it was stored in the camphor-wood chest. Its vendor inherited it from her late husband to whom it had been sold by his dear friend, the late John Murray Shimmin, who it is believed was divesting before moving interstate. And here, with the researching skills of Genealogy SA experts in Unley, the painting’s provenance begins its trail back to the artist. Their report is available to view.
John Shimmin was the descendent of Henry Alfred Shimmin, born in Malew on the Isle of Man in 1855. Henry and his family arrived in South Australia aboard the Dundee on 28 May, 1883. He found work as a gardener in the Barossa Valley on a property called Moorooroo. The property belonged to William Jacob. Jacob was the assistant surveyor to Colonel Light, and a close friend and associate. Jacob, of course, is the name behind Jacob’s Creek.
Light and Jacob had travelled to Lyndoch in the Barossa in 1839 hoping to find a northern route to the River Murray. With lack of transport and poor health, Light had to leave some of the Barossa work to Jacob. In fact, Light died aged 53 of consumption on October 5, 1839.
In that year Jacob, his brother John and their sister purchased some 4000 acres of Pewsey Vale, Rowland Flat and Moorooroo. William also worked as the local magistrate and married Mary Bogot, daughter of Captain Charles Bagot. He ended up as one of the Barossa’s pioneer vignerons.
It is believed that William Jacob gave or sold the William Light painting to his loyal gardener, Henry Shimmin. Henry left Moorooroo and it stayed in the Shimmin family, going from Henry who died in 1935 to his son Henry Alfred who died in 1965, to his son, Clarence Henry who died in 1980 and then to the next generation, John Shimmin who died in Queensland in 2002, having parted with the painting to his friend in Victor Harbor.
And thus, out of Shimmin’s friend’s camphor-wood chest, Light’s vivid window on early Adelaide comes to light.
It is quite a story and a wonderful interweaving of South Australian history.
Commencement of colonisation of South Australia showing a view of the country and temporary erections near the site of Adelaide in South Australia.
In our opinion this work is one of the earliest recordings of this subject. We believe the work to be executed Mid-January 1837.This work is to be sold in as-found condition. Conservation report by Art Conservator David Button, Adelaide.
Prov: Private Collection, Adelaide. Originally acquired in the early 1990s from Mr. John Shimmin, Great Grandson of Henry Shimmin who settled at Moorooroo (Barossa Valley).The property owned by William Jacobs, the assistant surveyor to Colonel William Light. Henry Shimmin was a gardener on the property. This information supplied by the Genealogy Society, Unley. This report is available to view.
Lot 30
WILLIAM LIGHT (1786-1839)
“The Harbour at Alexandria”
Watercolour
27.5x17cm
Prov: Mr. and Mrs. R. McKinnon, London, descendants of Colonel Light. The portrait of Colonel Light in the Art Gallery of South Australia is of the same provenance.
As a sea-faring naval man, Colonel William Light spent much of his life in ports and harbours which provided welcome down time for time to do one of the things he loved most in life - to paint. Light was a prolific artist making sketches and watercolour paintings wherever he went. It is estimated he must have done thousands of them, but so many were lost through the years, through travel and, of course, the terrible house fire which devoured his sketchbooks and papers in his founding years of early Adelaide.
This lovely detailed work depicting harbour life in Alexandria has stayed in the family. It was first owned by Light’s sister, Sarah Light who married General James Welsh. It was thereafter handed down from generation to generation - to their daughter, Eliza Welsh, her daughter, Mary Violet Mason and her daughter, Violet Mary who married Michael MacKinnon in the 1930s. Their son Robin married Engel Boe in 1968 and it is she and Michael who have supplied the work for the world at large today.
Alexandria and greater Egypt were important places in the life of Light. He had first gone to Egypt with his second wife, Mary, as part of their “grand tour”. They both fell in love with the place. They travelled everywhere and admired every monument. They did a big trip down the Nile. It was there in Egypt that Light not only became friends with Mohammed Ali Pasha but went on to help this founder of modern Egypt to establish an Egyptian navy. Mohammad was keen for as much European support and staff as could be mustered and to that end Light sailed back to England to recruit talent for this force.
Lot 28
WILLIAM LIGHT (1786-1839)
“A Scene in Syria”
Watercolour
23x34cm
A rare drawing thought to depict a citadel in Alexandria which was built by the Egyptian ruler Mohammed Pasha whom Light knew well. This work was reproduced on page 99, The Art of William Light by David Elder, a Jubilee publication for the Corporation of the City of Adelaide.
Prov. Mr and Mrs R. MacKinnon, London, a descendant of Colonel Light. The portrait of Colonel Light in the Art Gallery of South Australia is of the same provenance.
Wherever he went, Colonel William Light’s sketchpads and paints went with him. He went to a lot of places and he was a prolific watercolourist. Sadly, much of his work has been lost to time, travel, and misfortune.
Light started life in Penang, the Malaysian city founded by his father Francis Light, but he was sent to England aged six for education. By 12, he had run off to sea, joining the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He went on to join the British Army, fighting against Napoleon and serving under the Duke of Wellington in which time his mapping and reconnaissance skills were acquired. A brief part of his early life was spent with his Irish first wife in an artistic and literary environment. When she died, he went back to Spain and to soldiering. Wounded, he returned to England and re-married, this time to wealthy, young Mary Bennet, with whom he first visited Egypt. While there, Light pursued his art while Mary studied Egyptology and they were befriended by Muhammed Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt. Light later spent five years in Egypt helping to establish the Pasha’s navy. At this time he was also working with John Hindmarsh who was among the promoters of the new colony in South Australia.
This painting which, until now, has remained in the hands of his family, is a bit of a mystery. Most popularly, it is thought to be of the Citadel in Alexandria but others believe it to be of the sea wall at Acre where Light met up with Mohamed Ali Pasha’s son, Ibrahim Pasha, who had been in charge of invading Syria earlier. Inspecting the scene with Ibrahim, he wrote in his diary that it was “a poor, weak place to have made so much noise in history”. There have been some, however, who have wondered if this scene was not of part of the Castle of the Sea at Sidon. Frustratingly, the painting has no date or title and, being a naval man, Light’s travels and port stops were legion. The one constant was his art, and this is a beautifully evocative study of one moment calm in his time.
Click on image for larger version
Lot 29
WILLIAM LIGHT (1786-1839)
“Egypt – Falookas Crossing a River”
Watercolour
18.5x30cm
Prov. Mr. and Mrs. R. McKinnon, London, descendants of Colonel Light. The portrait of Colonel Light in the Art Gallery of South Australia is of the same provenance.
Ferryboats of yore, on a calm Egyptian day. There must be something special going on because the crowds are massing on the shore. This is an utterly exquisite piece of William Light’s art. Here his expertise with watercolours shines forth not only in the details but in the soft golden haze and the misty outline of the minarets. These ferries are traditional wooden vessels called Falookas, or Feluccas. They are still much used along the Nile and in Malta and Tunisia. Tourists love them when visiting Aswan and Luxor. They seemed very busy in Colonel Light’s day and, he being a man beloved of sailing boats, has given close attention to this delicate study. One might assume that he painted it from the deck of his own masted boat, Gulnare.
So many of Light’s paintings have been lost through the years, so it is exciting to see one of this painterly quality in such fine condition, doubtless because it has been kept in the hands of his family.
Light fell in love with Egypt at first sight in December 1830 on his travels with second wife Mary, and he did myriad sketches of the noble ruins and life along the Nile on their epic river trip. South Australia’s Mortlock Library has some of these works among its collection of The Light Papers but, sadly, they were ever in woeful condition, soiled and damaged. Hence, the very special significance of this handsome piece.
The sailboats of Egypt were one of the things which seemed to have attracted naval officer Light to the country, along with his friendship with the Mohammed Ali Pasha who, at the time, was seeking to establish forces sufficient to become independent from the Sultan of Turkey. The Pasha and his officials were said to have visited Light on the Gulnare and there is a story that he sailed the Gulnare in a race against an Egyptian schooner. Light won.
Lot 31
WILLIAM LIGHT (1786-1839)
An Original Plan of the City of Adelaide in South Australia
With the acre allotments numbered, and a marginal reference to the names of the original purchasers.
Surveyed and drawn by Colonel Light, published by John Gliddon, South Australian Agent 3, Austin Friars.
56x72cm
Prov: Private Collection, Adelaide
Publishing details:
Location: