Nineteenth century photographs of Aboriginal people from the Tyrrell Collection, 1870s-c.1910 various sizes

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Tyrrell's Museum of Antiques, Books and Curios, Sydney
Private collection, New South Wales

including ten studio proofs from Kerry & Co
48 portraits by Charles Kerry (1858-1928) and Henry King (1855-1923)
25 photographs of rites and ceremonies by Charles Kerry
ten portraits by John William Lindt (1845-1926)
three portraits by Paul Foelsche (1831-1914)
a portrait of King Moran of Dyraaba c.1910 by an unknown photographer
a camp scene by Carl Ehlers (active 1880s)
two portraits by Charles Woolley (1834-1922)
a sepia toned photograph c.1880 of 'Governor Davey's Proclamation to the Aborigines, 1816'

These remarkable photographs come from the collection of prominent Sydney bookseller and publisher James Robert Tyrrell (1875-1961). Tyrrell's early career with Angus and Robertson allowed him to develop an extensive knowledge of Australiana and to build a network of major collectors in this field. Thus, the entrepreneurial Tyrrell was to also establish himself as a collector and art dealer allowing him to continue his involvement in building private and public collections that he had so enjoyed in his 17 years with Angus and Robertson.1

Following the closure of Kerry & Co, one of the largest photographic studios in Sydney between 1890 and 1917, Tyrrell purchased its entire archive - according to an article in Australian Geographic magazine, 'with the intention of establishing a floating ethnographic museum moored on Sydney Harbour'. Bill Tyrrell, James' grandson, sold the collection to Australian Consolidated Press in 1980 who transferred over 2000 of the most significant images to plastic negatives in order to ensure their preservation. The entire collection of more than 2900 glass plates and negatives was then donated to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.2

The majority of photographs in this lot were taken by Charles Kerry and Henry King who were commissioned to produce an exhibition of Aboriginal portraits and corroborree pictures for the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition. The collection also features ten portraits by J.W. Lindt taken in his Grafton studio in New South Wales. In his studio he posed his subjects in reconstructed outdoor settings. He successfully marketed small selections from his series, as folios and sold them throughout the world. His romanticized depiction of the Aboriginal people matched European fantasies of the 'noble savage' and his work was published in a number of overseas books about Australia.

1. Australian Dictionary of Biography: accessed online
2. australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2011/11/history-ofaustralia-a-nation-in-the-making/