Month: July 2007

Isobel Crombie (2004) 29

How misattribution can persist

July 30, 2007

Isobel Crombie’s book, Body Culture: Max Dupain, Photography and Australian Culture, 1919-1939, published by the National Gallery of Victoria (2004) includes this original photograph of a Tasmanian prisoner taken by government contractor and professional photographer Thomas J. Nevin, dated 1874, with misattribution to the Port Arthur Commandant A. H .Boyd on page 39. In a discussion which lies outside the dates of the book’s title, Isobel Crombie attributes this carte-de-visite of convict Henry Smith per Rodney 2 to A. H. Boyd, an accountant promoted through nepotism to the position of Commandant of the Port Arthur prison site, a position he held until forced to resign in December 1873. A. H. Boyd had no reputation in his lifetime as a photographer, and no works in any genre by him are extant. … More How misattribution can persist

Convict Carte No. 1: George WHITE aka NUTT

July 27, 2007

The database image with verso at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery: note that the verso is inscribed with the conventional date of Nevin’s photographic registration (1874), the alias, and the ship on which Nutt was originally transported before 1853, but the transcription which appears on many other versos of convicts’ cartes – “Taken at Port Arthur” – is absent. Nevin may have photographed Nutt at Port Arthur between 23rd February and 8th May 1874; the former date being another sentence for Nutt for breaking the cell while trying to escape, the latter being one of the dates on which Nevin attended Port Arthur on police business. He was absent from Hobart when his father-in-law Captain James Day registered the birth of Thomas James Nevin jnr in May 1874. … More Convict Carte No. 1: George WHITE aka NUTT

The Derwent from 270 Lenah Valley Rd, Hobart, Tasmania

The Kangaroo Valley house & New Town stereographs ca. 1868

July 25, 2007

“AUGUSTA (Co. Buckingham) is a postal village and residential suburb of Hobart Town, in the police district of Hobart, and electoral district of Glenorchy. It is situate on the main road from Hobart Town to Launceston, about 2 miles from the former place, and on the New Town Rivulet, which empties itself in to the Derwent, near Risdon. A portion of Mount Wellington overlooks the district. There are no mills or manufactories in Augusta at present, except a pottery. The surrounding district is agricultural to a large extent. There are several coal seams in the district; two or three are being worked, and produce very good domestic fuel. The communication with Hobart Town is by ‘busses and other conveyances which run hourly. The city of Hobart Town adjoins Augusta N.W. There is one hotel in the village, the Harvest Home. The surrounding country is undulating and hilly. The population numbers about 300 persons. There are places of worship as follows: Church of England, Church of Rome, and Wesleyan Church…” … More The Kangaroo Valley house & New Town stereographs ca. 1868

Hobart Town from Lime Kiln Hill

July 22, 2007

Clifford & Nevin appears as a handwritten inscription on the versos of several studio portraits in public and private collections, but their collaboration was principally in stereography, especially in the late 1860s. Several stereographs held at the State Library of Tasmania, collated in “The Clifford Album”, whether unattributed or which bear Clifford’s stamp may be original photographs by Nevin produced during their partnership.

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery holds a sizeable collection of Thomas Nevin’s stereographs dating from 1868. Nevin exhibited at the Wellington Park Exhibition in 1868, and at the Hobart Town Hall Bazaar in 1872. This stereograph titled Hobart from Lime Kiln Hill looking down Harrington Street carries his New Town studio stamp on verso, taken in the mid to late 1860s. … More Hobart Town from Lime Kiln Hill

Thomas Nevin’s Rank 1871

July 9, 2007

When commercial photographer and government contractor Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923) married Elizabeth Rachel Day (1847-1914) on July 12, 1871 at the Wesleyan Chapel, Kangaroo Valley (now Lenah Valley), Hobart, Tasmania, his “rank” – indicating occupation, profession and social status – was “photographer”. By 1871 he was working on commission to provide the Lands and Service Department with photographs of changes and damage to landscapes and buildings. For his bride, however, no ranking applied. Elizabeth Rachel Day’s “rank” is just a dash. … More Thomas Nevin’s Rank 1871

Signatures and handwriting 1870s

July 7, 2007

Examples of Thomas Nevin’s handwriting can assist in identifying inscriptions on the versos of so many unattributed photographs of the period in public holdings. The handwritten inscription – “Clifford & Nevin, Hobart Town” – which appears on several studio portraits in private and public collections, may be one source of either Nevin’s or Clifford’s calligraphy. … More Signatures and handwriting 1870s