457717
- TitleVolume 1: Manuscripts and artworks from an album assembled by Major James Wallis
- Call numberPXD 1008/vol 1
- Level of descriptionitem
- Date
1807?-1882 - Type of material
- Reference code457717
- Issue CopyDigitised
- Physical DescriptionTextual Records - 5 manuscript leaves - 13.5 x 15 cm (ff.2-3) - 23 x 17 cm. (f.1)
- album leaves 27 x 23 cm. : ; - Scope and Content1. [1 leaf manuscript about Burigon Jack and his brother Dick]. 23 x 17 cm.
2-3. [2 leaves manuscript account of travels]. 13.5 x 15 cm.
4-5. [2 leaves manuscript notes on Wallis's genealogy]. 17.7 x 22.6 cm.
6. [1 newscutting - obituary of Sir Peter Fitzgerald, Knight of Kerry, d.1880, inscribed "My mother's cousin A H"; originally affixed to f.5]. 10.5 x 10.5 cm.
7. [Album page to which ff.4-6 originally affixed; signed "A Hilton 1882"]. 27 x 23 cm.
8. To the Memory of Brother Officers ... Includes a slide out tab at the top of the urn. [watercolour and manuscript collage]. 23.2 x 20.5 cm. (max. vertical x max. horizontal, irregular; mounted on card 26.8 x 20.8 cm.)
9. My dog Fly [watercolour]. 15.7 x 22.8 cm ; title in ink on label cut from album
10. Invincible; Lavinia [ink drawing]. 13.9 x 18.8 cm.
11. Sion House Clifton [watercolour]. 25.8 x 18.1 cm. Titled on album leaf (f.12) now detached from drawing. Incorrectly titled "View on the river Avon near Bristol" in A catalogue of works of art by Major James Wallis ... (PXD 1008 (v.3)); this title belongs to f.34
12. [Album page to which f.11 originally affixed, inscribed in ink "Sion House Clifton" at lower edge]. 26.9 x 21.8 cm.
13. Upper Lodge Ashton Court Somersetshire. Sir John Smith, Bart. [watercolour]. 18.1 x 25.1 cm. ; titled in ink on label cut from album; also titled in pencil on reverse
14. [Gazebo with thatched roof][ink drawing in sepia and black]. 11.8 x 21.4 cm.
15. Bone Cottage Somersetshire [ink drawing]. 19.3 x 25.4 cm. Titled in ink at lower left, and in pencil on reverse; "Bone Cottage ...", partly erased, legible at lower right. Annotations in ink on reverse, "Red", "White", "Red", "D yellow", "Bronze", "Red", apparently corresponding to roofs and walls of buildings in view
16. Entrance to Ashton Court Somersetshire. Sir John Smith Bart. [watercolour]. 14 x 22.7 cm. Titled in ink on accompanying leaf on which is an unfinished pencil and watercolour sketch of a building. Partial title in pencil on drawing verso
17. Entrance to Blaize Castle, near Bristol. L. Harford Esqre. [ink drawing]. 13.9 x 20 cm. Titled in ink on label cut from album; also titled in pencil on reverse. Partial title in ink at lower right, dated at top right. Picture is trimmed with date projecting at top right
18. [Round thatched cottage with figures][watercolour]. 14 x 23.2 cm.
19. View from Canal near Taunton Somersetshire 30th August 1842 [sepia wash drawing]. 18 x 26.3 cm. Titled from inscription in sepia at lower right. Accompanied by label cut from album, inscribed in ink "View from the Canal Taunton where the 2 Churches are brought close to each other."
20. [Unidentified waterfall with man fishing and other figures][watercolour]. 19.9 x 24.9 cm. Untitled. An additional female figure may be present at the end of the footbridge at left
21. View from Sundays Well of St Barrs Church and the Bishops Palace, near Cork [ink drawing]. 12.6 x 21.1 cm.
22. [Large country church with figures and cows][watercolour]. 6.9 x 10.9 cm. Untitled. An inscription in ink may have been trimmed at lower right.
23. L'Esponie; Reasonable; Nimble; Ocean; Narussus [ink drawing]. 13.1 x 26.2 cm; a ship is lightly sketched in pencil on reverse
24. Bebington Church, Cheshire [ink drawing]. 14.1 x 21.3 cm.
25. Ballyglass [i.e. Ballaglass?], I of Man [watercolour]. 22.7 x 13.7 cm. Titled from a paper fragment inscribed in pencil in what appears to be Wallis's hand "Ballyglass I of Man". Both the paper fragment and f.25 verso are numbered "26B" in pencil in another hand. The view may be of falls in Ballaglass Glen, Isle of Man
26. [Man hanging from cliff under attack from large birds][wash drawing]. 26 x 18.6 cm.
27. [Country house against a mountain][sepia drawing]. 17.9 x 23.3 cm.
28. Near Canterbury, Kent - Thanington [watercolour]. 14.2 x 22.9 cm. ; titled in ink on label cut from album. Titled in Wallis's hand "Near Canterbury. Kent", with further inscription in another hand: "Thanington. J. Eyre. Where my paternal grandfather John White was once a curate"
29. Dominica. Sir George Prevost on Horseback [watercolour]. 11.3 x 20.6 cm. ; title inscribed in ink on label cut from album. Partial title in pencil on drawing verso
30. [British sailing ships off a mountainous coast][watercolour]. 14.7 x 23.3 cm.
31. Sunset at Douglas, Isle of Man [watercolour]. 13.6 x 22.3 cm. ; title in ink on label cut from album
32. Side view of Hackington House nr Canterbury ... [watercolour]. 15.5 x 23.6 cm. ; title in ink on label cut from album. Inscription in Wallis's hand "Side view of Hackington House nr Canterbury / Lord Sondes / The Residence of Captain Thos Hilton"; additional inscription in another hand: "my maternal grandfather. Pulled down 1922. J. Eyre"
33. [Large country church by a castle keep][unfinished sketch in pencil and watercolour]. 15.5 x 24.6 cm.
34. View on River Avon - Clifton [sepia wash drawing]. 14.2 x 21.1 cm. ; titled in sepia at lower right.
35. Milstead Church Kent. Revd Henry Hilton [watercolour]. 8.5 x 14.7 cm. ; title in ink on label cut from album. Partial title and list of partly legible names alongside numerals noted in pencil on reverse
36. [British sailing ship off a mountainous coast][watercolour]. 20 x 12.4 cm.
37. [Cottage beside large willow tree][sepia drawing]. 14.8 x 25 cm. ; indistinct pencil inscription on reverse: "Lodge [?on D...?]". Top right corner missing
38. [Three men in a boat fishing][ink sketch]. 8.5 x 14.8 cm.
39. Fishing boats too late for steamer 27th March 1852 [ink sketch]. 11 x 18.2 cm. ; signed in ink "J Wallis" at lower right
40. The Storm off Madagascar [watercolour]. 13 x 19.6 cm. ; titled in pencil on reverse
41. [Monastic settlement and Romanesque tower at Glendaloch, Co. Wicklow][ink drawing]. 17.7 x 26.8 cm.
41 (verso). [Romanesque tower viewed from the lakes at Glendaloch][ink drawing]
42. The old Admiralty House, Cove of Cork [pencil drawing]. 18.1 x 26.7 cm.
43. Gardener's Cottage under St Vincent's Rocks, Hotwells, Clifton [watercolour]. 13.7 x 21.8 cm. ; title in ink on label cut from album. Partial title in pencil on another paper fragment
44. [Culbone Church, Exmoor][sepia drawing]. 17.1 x 25.1 cm.
45. Birds from the Himalayah Mountains, shot and sketched by Major Alexander Tayler ... [18 watercolour bird studies affixed to album page]. 27 x 23 cm. ; titled from inscription in ink at top of page.
46. Town of St Sebastian Rio-de-Janeiro Brazil [label only, ink on paper] - System of arrangementThe album appears to have been broken up after sale at Christie's (South Kensington) auction, Topographical Pictures, 25 May 1989. It has been necessary to attempt to reconstruct its arrangement from numbering found on the reverse of the drawings, and from a limited selection of photographs of openings of the intact album obtained in the course of Mitchell Library correspondence with previous owners. The catalogued arrangement diverges from the conjectural original order in the following ways: 1) manuscripts are grouped together at the beginning of the sequence, before f.8; 2) As a possible Australian view, f.9 (possibly originally located between ff.23 & 24) is now placed near the beginning of the sequence for ease of reference
- Copying ConditionsOut of copyright: Artist died before 1955 (applies to pictorial material only)
Research & study copies allowed: The Creator has been dead for more than 50 years (applies to manuscript material)
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales - Finding AidsRead the transcription here: acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2015/D00271/a1917.html
- Related Material
- General note
ff.4-5 were mounted as a folded booklet attached to f.7 in the original album, the facing page being that to which f.21, View of Sundays Well from St Barrs Church ... was affixed. The position of this page opening in the album is not known. In the current arrangement ff.4-7 are located with other manuscript leaves together at the beginning of the sequence, and f.21 filed with reference to numbering in pencil found on the reverse. The newscutting, f.6, was originally affixed in the space above the words "Lady FitzGeralds brother Mr. Hussey ..." on the recto of f.5. The letters "...gton" trail onto f.7 from the word "Hackington" at the recto lower right on f.5
f.8: the lid of the urn is attached to a card which, but for an inscription visible through a cut-out window, is concealed behind watercolour artwork depicting the urn upon a plinth with surrounding symbols of Wallis's career and travels. The inscription within the window is a verse signed by Wallis and dated July 17th 1835. When the insert is revealed by lifting the lid of the urn, another inscription is uncovered within the cut-out explaining the symbolism of the artwork. Revealed on the card insert beneath the urn lid is the heading "To the Memory of Brother Officers who died in various parts of the Globe", and below, their names inscribed in the form of a weeping willow. Photographs on file indicate that a medallion painted at the base of the urn, now smudged, contained the date "22nd Feb [15?]0[3?]"
f.9: "My dog Fly" has been considered possibly to be an Australian view, on the basis of the resemblance of the background to the Hunter River
f.21: a photocopy of a photograph of the intact album shows that f.21 was affixed to the lower half of an album page, below a manuscript leaf which appears to be a transcription from the tomb of James Wallis (d.1800) and Lucinda Wallis (d.1825). This page faced that now numbered f.7, to which ff.4-6 were attached
f.34: Signature "J Wa[llis]" at lower right is trimmed at "J Wa". Accompanying label cut from album is titled in ink: "View on the River Avon nr Bristol". This label is erroneously assigned to f.11 in A catalogue of works of art by Major James Wallis ... (PXD 1008 (v.3))
f.36: corners of leaf trimmed at an angle in lozenge format
f.38: a photocopy of a photograph of the intact album shows that f.38 was affixed to the upper half of an album page above f.39, this page facing that to which f.40 was affixed. The position of this opening within the album is not known
f.41 recto and verso titled in A catalogue of works of art by Major James Wallis ... (PXD 1008 (v.3)), source not provided. Sketch fragment accompanying f.41 overlaps artwork on verso at left hand edge
f.42: incorrectly described as "gray wash" in A catalogue of works of art by Major James Wallis ... (PXD 1008 (v.3)). On verso is an unfinished pencil sketch of a house
f.44: titled from pencil inscription on verso of title label belonging to f.43. ff.43-44 have consecutive non-contemporary numbering on reverse (57 & 57B). Unfinished sepia sketch of church on f.44 verso
f.45: 18 small (approx. 30-90mm.) watercolour bird studies are cropped to outline and individually affixed to page; some have number in pencil alongside (key not present)
f.46: label only; this picture was not in the inventory of material acquired by the Mitchell Library. The drawing, which appears to be ink and wash, is illustrated in b&w in Christie's (South Kensington) catalogue, Topographical Pictures 25 May 1989, Lot 161, p.85. A photocopy is filed in A catalogue of works of art by Major James Wallis ... (PXD 1008/vol 3). In the photograph, the caption can be seen below the drawing
Untitled: ff.14,18,20,22,26,27,30,33,36-38
The earliest date estimated for the album is conjectural based on Wallis's manuscript account of his travels (ff.2-3), which states "Purchased this Book in London after my return from the West Indies in December 1807". It is unclear whether this album is the book referred to, or whether ff.2-3 were transferred to this album from another book; and whether material dating from this time onward is collected in this album. Text no longer found with the album is recorded by a previous owner in Mitchell Library correspondence predating acquisition of the album: "Sketches etc. done by Major James Wallis, 46th Regt. between the years of 1807 and 1830, great great great uncle of Richard G. Eyre / Given by Mary Hilton great niece of above to Joan (Eyre) great great niece of above, January 1913, who has included a few sketches by Mary Hilton Eyre". The latest date in the album is based on the inscription "A Hilton 1882" on f.7
Digital order no:Album ID : 862014 - Signatures / Inscriptions
"Ashton Church Somersetshire / Housed." -- in ink on f.7 verso. The drawing referred to is not in the collection
"A vault in this church contains my G.Father & G.Mother - 2 uncles & one first cousin. All the rest are buried nr. my Grand Fathers old country place - Ennismore County Kerry - A H - 1869" -- inscribed in ink on f.21 verso. According to A catalogue of works of art by Major James Wallis ... (PXD 1008 (v.3)), the initials "A H" (also found in an inscription on f.42 verso) read "A W" and refer to widow Ann Wallis. However, an inscription in the same hand covering ff.5 and 7 is signed and dated on f.7 "A Hilton 1882"; f.6, a newspaper obituary published in 1880, is inscribed in the same hand and initialled "A H"
"The old Admiralty House / Cove of Cork / Where our funny & merry days were past - until I was 16 - A H" -- inscribed in ink on reverse, f.42, with an additional inscription in ink in another hand, "my maternal grandmother. J. Eyre"
"Birds from the Himalayah Mountains, shot and sketched by Major Alexander Tayler H. M. 9th Regt a Nephew of Major Wallis's." -- inscribed in ink at top of page, f.45; with additional pencil inscription beneath in another hand, "brother to my grandmother J. E." - Topic
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