Name/TitleView of Sydney Cove, New South Wales
About this objectThe original drawing for this aquatint, now lost, was most likely produced in the colony by the convicted artist Thomas Watling in about 1800 and redrawn by Edward Dayes for the London engraver Francis Jukes.
It is a distant view of Sydney taken from the western side of the cove (from Dawes Point looking eastward), on the rocky foreshore just below Dawes Battery. The view swings from Government House and its gardens on the left, past government buildings (the Store House, Commissary’s Office, Judge Advocate’s and Surveyor General’s houses, etc). The two rows of houses heading diagonally south in the centre are lining Pitt’s Row (now Pitt Street).
On the eastern foreshore, below Pitt’s Row, Governor King can be seen driving towards the Tank Stream in his coach. The tanks which gave the stream its name are visible just above the ship in dry dock in the mid-foreground. The ship in dry dock in the middle foreground is the brig PORTLAND, laid down by Governor Hunter in 1797 but not launched until 1816 and renamed as the Henrietta Elizabeth. The bell tower for the naval dockyard is visible above the ship and on the hill to the right is the clock tower.
MakerEdward Dayes - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
MakerThomas Watling - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
MakerFrancis Jukes - Engraver
Maker RoleEngraver
Date Made1804
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsPaper, ink and pigment
Place MadeSydney, Australia
Place NotesOriginal drawings
Place MadeLondon, United Kingdom
Place NotesPrinted
Inscription and MarksTitled 'A view of Sydney Cove, New South Wales'
Measurements395mm x 605mm
Object TypeLandscape Paintings
Object numberSF000747
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art