Name/TitleNew Panorama. A Startling interrogation
About this objectA fine impression of the coloured issue of this rare cartoon, satirising the colony which at this time was desperately trying to attract free immigration. The cashier taking money for the "New Panorama" (probably representing the Colosseum in Regents Park) is shown as if he is selling tickets for a voyage when he is actually selling entrance tickets to one of the fashionably realistic panoramas of exotic foreign places then exhibiting in London.
"Do you wish to go to Hell or Botany Bay? Sir" he asks, to which the prospective immigrant replies: "I wonts to go to Bottomy Bay"; a young girl exclaims to her enormously fat mother "La Mama I should like to see the Naughty Place better than any thing".
William Heath (1795-1840), originally a career soldier, became well-known as a caricaturist and illustrator. His work reached a wide audience, even outside England: 'on cite aussi de lui des caricatures pleines d'humour sur les moeurs anglaises, vers 1825' (Bénézit Dictionnaire).
Separately issued transportation and immigration views are scarce, and this is a particularly charming and amusing example in fine condition. It may be the single caricature by Heath of an Australian subject, though his publisher, Thomas McLean, published material of Australian interest by other artists.
Reproduced (although not attributed, and misdated) by Jonathan King in 'The Other Side of the Coin: A Cartoon History of Australia', p. 23.
MakerWilliam Heath - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
MakerThomas McLean - Artist
Maker RolePublisher
Date Made1829
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsPaper and ink.
Place MadeLondon, United Kingdom
TechniqueHand coloured
Measurements30cm x 41cm.
Object TypeCartoons
Object numberSF000906
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