Name/TitleY-erran-gou-la-ga (Friend of Bennelong and Nanbaree)
About this objectA hand-coloured portrait, one of the most striking of the entire Petit group, depicting the Port Jackson warrior Y-erran-gou-la-ga (better known as "Mosquito"). Y-erran-gou-la-ga was a member of the circle that included Bennelong and Surgeon White's adopted son Nanbaree, and is recorded as having fought numerous battles before crowds in Sydney.
The officers of the Baudin voyage visited Port Jackson in 1802, when Petit is known to have done a series of portraits and sketches: it is likely that this portrait derives from work he did at either Government house or Colonel Paterson's residence.
The death and interment of "Mosquito" was reported at great length in the Sydney Gazette for 19 January 1806: "At night the corpse closed in bark, was conveyed by two into Mr. Jamieson's yard, two others carrying a coffin that had been provided. This movement was under the direction of an ancient man, who commanded the bearers to make numerous turns, to walk backwards, and frequently to vary their places, in order to bewilder the deceased and prevent his return... At eleven [the mourners] repaired in a mass to the sand hills beyond the Brickfields in expectation of meeting [Mosquito's killer] and his adherents...
MakerNicholas Martin Petit - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
Date Made1807
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsPaper, ink and pigment
Place MadeSydney, Australia
Place NotesInitial sketches
Place MadeParis, France
Place NotesPrinted
TechniqueEngraving
Object TypeIndigenous History
Object numberSF000788
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