Untitled (Three masted ship passing a headland)
Artist
Frederick Elliott
(Australian, 1864 - 1949)
Date1860s -1914
Object number00045524
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour on paper
DimensionsOverall: 610 x 860 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
HistoryCaptain William Collin (1834-1914) was born in England, went to sea, and was shipwrecked off north Queensland in 1854. He settled in Sydney until 1862 when he moved to Queensland and operated barges in the coastal trade. He also became a well-known salvage operator and shipbreaker. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Queensland coastal and river trade, and one of his most notable achievements was to mark the passage through Torres Strait with buoys, for the Queensland Government. His reminiscences published in 1914 are an important source for the social and commercial history of early Queensland.
Frederick (Fred) Elliott was active mostly in Sydney from about 1880 or 1890 to 1930. He also worked in Brisbane. Despite a prolific output of watercolours on marine subjects little is known about him. He is said to have sold his paintings around waterfront pubs for the price of a few drinks. His style combines a romantic use of soft light, mist and reflections, with a realism arising from an accurate knowledge of ships and associated maritime things. His works were almost never dated and were usually untitled or given very general titles.SignificanceWilliam Collin, Life and Adventures (of an Essexman) Captain William Collin, a Queensland Pioneer. Brisbane, 1914. Vaughan Evans Library 910.450942 COL.J A Hempel, article on William Collin in Australian Dictionary of Biography 1851-1890, p 441
Jonathan Wantrup, catalogue entry for William Collin, Life and Adventures, in New Century Antiquarian Books, Travel Australia and Pacific, December 2006, item 15.
