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On Board Ship THOMAS STEPHENS off Cape Horn
On Board Ship THOMAS STEPHENS off Cape Horn

On Board Ship THOMAS STEPHENS off Cape Horn

Artist (British, 1833 - 1908)
Date1873
Object number00055515
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour on paper
DimensionsMount / Matt size (C fini mount): 522 × 717 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionA watercolour by Edward Roper of children playing 'fishing for cape petrels' off the stern of the THOMAS STEPHENS in 1873. The work is inscribed with latitude and longitude coordinates and likely depicts one of Roper's daughters situated near the hand rail.HistoryEdward Roper 1833-1909 was a nomadic British artist, illustrator, lithographer, publisher and writer whose perspectives of life in Canada, New Zealand and Australia to 1905 promoted the exotica, adventure and lure of life in the far flung colonies. Roper visited and lived in Australia at least three times - in Victoria where he tried his hand at the diggings between 1853-57, in 1866-68, 1870-73 and probably also in the 1880s. With a traveller's eye for detail and interest Roper chronicled his life in writing and imagery - the Victorian goldfields, an Australian Aboriginal corroboree, aspects of European life on the land and native fauna in emu and kangaroo hunts. Roper was back in Victoria between 1870-73 when he established the Melbourne Graphotype Engraving Company promoting a speedier printmaking process than wood engravings, also demonstrating this technique at the Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition in 1872. However the business failed and he was declared bankrupt. Roper sailed from Melbourne in the THOMAS STEPHENS on the 29th March 1873 - four days after scheduled departure - with his two daughters Edith and Anne. This watercolour sheds light on the lives of prospective colonists in the late 19th century and the immigration /emigration pathways they took. Roper spent many years in Canada. From the 1870s he appears to have settled in the UK, where he remarried after his wife Annie died. Into the 1880s and 90s his publications and artworks were distributed and displayed in the UK to encourage emigration to the colonies. SignificanceThis is a unique view of shipboard life, especially of children at play, by Edward Roper, who was an accomplished artist, illustrator, author and publisher working in Australia at times in the 19th century who promoted its appeal and interest to audiences in Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Canada.