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Ye Picnic: Graceful attitude of ladie oystering...
by [OYSTERING: UNKNOWN ARTIST]
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New South Wales, 1860. Sepia drawing 110 mm x 170 mm (image size); mounted, in an early timber frame.
Charming rendering of a colonial woman oystering -- a rare subject.
Far from being the preserve of the gourmet, oysters in 19th century Sydney were fodder for all. Shell deposits in Sydney middens attest to oyster consumption by the Aboriginal population for thousands of years before colonial settlement. Early European settlers had taken to the local product with gusto, but they also burned the shells to produce lime for mortar. This depleted the natural population, so the government banned the burning of oysters for lime, leading to deliberate farming. (Dictionary of Sydney). Thomas Holt, the first Treasurer in the NSW Legislative Assembly, had begun (unsuccessful) attempts at commercial farming in the late 1860s, agitating for oyster leasing in 1880. His vast estate stretched from Botany Bay to Port Hacking, with his imposing mansion The Warren being built on the Cook's River in 1870.
This drawing with its humorous title draws attention to both the desire for oysters at "high table" (the outlines of a substantial home may be glimpsed in the background) and the intimate foraging of a woman on her haunches plying for oysters.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Hordern House Rare Books
(AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 4504855
- Title
- Ye Picnic: Graceful attitude of ladie oystering...
- Author
- [OYSTERING: UNKNOWN ARTIST]
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Place of Publication
- New South Wales
- Date Published
- 1860
Terms of Sale
Hordern House Rare Books
14 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 14 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. For full terms please visit our website.
About the Seller
Hordern House Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Surry Hills, New South Wales
About Hordern House Rare Books
Hordern House, founded by Anne McCormick and Derek McDonnell in 1985 and named for our original building in Sydney's Potts Point, is an internationally renowned dealership, specialising in rare books, manuscripts and paintings.Nowadays we conduct our business in the heart of Surry Hills, five minutes from the centre of Sydney. We occupy an entire floor of a converted warehouse where we have created a customised environment for our work and the display of rare books, manuscripts & paintings.Always reflected in our extensive stock of rare and select material is our specialization in voyages and travels (with a special interest in the Pacific & Australia), natural history and colour-plate material, paintings and voyage art, historical maps and manuscripts.
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