[GOLD RUSH] Gold diggers : tub & cradle process.

[JONES, John H., 1817?-1872]

Beschreibung

[Title from manuscript caption on mount]. [1862]. Stereoscopic albumen print photograph, each individual image 74 x 73 mm (arched-top format), on pink card mount 83 x 175 mm;rectoof mount with original manuscript inscription in ink at bottom marginGold Diggers Tub & Cradle Process; both prints have rich tonal range and excellent clarity;the mount has a stain at the right-hand edge (not seriously affecting the print), and the original Scots-Australian owner's name McMillan in pencil on the back. This early Victorian stereoscopic view is a truly iconic photographic image of the Australian gold rushes. The photograph was taken by travelling photographer John H. Jones, prior to September 1862 (see below). The image is reproduced on page 12 of the Bendigo Art Gallery's 2013 exhibition catalogue of Jones' stereoscopic views, Her Majesty's Territories: Stereographic Views of Australian Sceneries (essay by Alva Maguire). Note that the present example is on a variant plain mount that most likely predates theBAG's views, which all have the imprintJones's Photographs of Australian Sceneries. The State Library of Victoria (Accession no: H2017.75/8) holds the glass negative of this stereoscopic view - the only other example in Australian institutional collections. Although the biographical information we have for John H. Jones (1817?-1872) is only sketchy, newspaper advertisements and articles from late 1862 and 1863 give a very clear idea of hismodus operandi as photographic entrepreneur. At this time he was selling his images in organised exhibitions and Art Unions in regional Victorian towns such as Bendigo, Castlemaine, Ballarat and Geelong, as well as in Melbourne itself. From The Argus, Melbourne, 23 September 1862: 'Proofs are daily offered that Victoria contains Scenery very much more beautiful thanis generally supposed, even by those who have resided longest in it. Mr Chevalier and Mr Guerardhave done much by their excellent landscapes, painted in the "Wild Wood" andby the Shore, to show that ourscenery is by no means tame and uninteresting; and a fine SeriesofStereoscopicPictures, taken lately by Mr J.H. Jones, of St. Kilda, while on a professional tour, will assist greatly in raising the colony to her proper place in this respect. AsPhotographs for the Stereoscope, the pictures are admirably executed, and the variety theypresent is very great, and all are very interesting. This series, if circulated In England,would remove many erroneous impressions from the minds of the people at home as toAustralian Scenery.' From The Star, Ballarat, 26 January 1863: 'Mr John H. Jones is now exhibiting at Bath'sHotel a very extensive series of photographs ofAustralian scenery, intended for minute inspectionby aid of the stereoscope. The views have beentaken by Mr Jones during a protracted tourthroughout the colony; and, while they are highlycreditable to his skill as a photographer and indicateno small amount of industry, they, make us awarethat Victoria is by no means so devoid of picturesquescenery as some people would have us believe. MrJones proposes to dispose of his photographs on theArt Union principle-- three hundred prizes, threehundred members, and two thousand five hundredand sixty views. In order to induce the fullestpatronage, Mr Jones has arranged that no membershall receive, a prize much below the, value of hissubscription, while he has the chance of obtainingone of nineteen prizes each worth more than sixtimes as much, and of one prize estimated at thevalue of twenty pounds. The photographs arearranged on a revolving apparatus, by which arrangement they can readily be viewed through theaid of the stereoscope, the whole forming a verydesirable appendage to the drawing-room. It isseldom that we have the opportunity of directingthe attention of readers to schemes so well worthyof support'. From the Mount Alexander Mail, 25 March 1863: 'Stereoscopic Views.-? Mr Jones continuesto exhibit his excellentstereoscopicViews ofAustralian S. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 36663

Bibliografische Details

Titel: [GOLD RUSH] Gold diggers : tub & cradle ...