Rock Davis's Slips, Woy Woy
Primary Artist
Lionel Lindsay (1874–1961)
Title
Other titles
Rock Davis's boat shed, Brisbane Water, Woy Woy
Reference
Mendelssohn (1987), 150
Date made
1917
Place made
Australia, Australia, New South Wales, Sydney View on map Close map
Category
Print type
intaglio
Technique
etching and drypoint, printed in warm black ink with plate-tone, from one copper plate
Matrix size
32.4 x 48.6 cm (plate-mark)
Support
thick wove O.W. waterleaf paper
Support size
37.0 x 52.6 cm (sheet)
Manufacturers mark
watermark, 'O.W.P. & A.C.L'
State
3rd state of 3, published state
Impression
proof
Edition information
1st state, proofs only; 2nd state, proofs only; 3rd state edition of 45, (5 on cream wove Japanese vellum, 15 on O.W. hand-made waterleaf paper, 25 on Dutch Van Guelder paper)
Production notes
Mendelssohn (1987), 150, notes edition of 15 on 'Old Whatman' paper. This is a misreading of the information on papers given in the Angus & Robertson advertisment for this print that appeared in Art in Australia, 1:2 1917, which records the edition of 15 on 'O.W. hand-made waterleaf paper'. Lionel Lindsay added to this confusion by inscribing NGA 81.115 as a 'proof on Whatman'. O.W. Paper & Arts Co. Ltd. was established by the English watercolour painter John William North (1842-1924) in 1895. It specalised in fine hand-made papers for watercolour painting and printmaking. Paper was watermarked 'O.W.P. & A.C.L.. This watermark is frequently misread as 'O.W.P. & A.O.L.'.
Inscriptions or device by artist or designated agent
Signed lower right below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Lionel Lindsay'.
Not dated.
Titled lower centre below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Rock Davis' Boat Shed Woy Woy / Etched in 1918'.
Inscribed lower right below plate-mark in black pencil, 'proof on Whatman [sic]'
Subject description
The 'Big Shed' an A-frame wooden boatshed, built at Blackwall hear Woy Woy, Brisbane Water, N.S.W., by Rock Davis (1833-1904), shipbuilder. The last vessel was built at the shipyard in 1913.
'Rock Davis’ Shipyard was established on Brisbane Water in the forties and remained active until ten years ago. It was the Mort’s Dock of the early days, turning out the largest ships then built in Australia and innumerable schooners for the Islands of the Pacific.
The great roof of the slips, with its 70-foot timbers and 8-foot shingles, makes it a subject peculiarly suited to the etching needle. Its construction is entirely different to any old word type, being probably an adaptation of the big canoe sheds of New Zealand.
Mr. Lindsay has treated the subject with insight and sound technique, attaining the maximum of effect with a minimum of effort. The plate is the largest yet wrought in Australia...'.
[Angus & Robertson advertisement, Art in Australia, no. 2, 1917]
Collection
National Gallery of Australia
IRN
110058
Accession number
81.115
Accession method
Purchase
Meeting
Meeting 5, 1980/81 (1981-02-09)
Provenance
Collection of Keith Kingrove (1910-1995), who formed a major collection of material relating to Norman Lindsay (1879-1969) and the art of Bookplates. Purchased by the Australian National Gallery, from Keith Wingrove, Highgate, South Australia, February 1981.
Credit line
Purchased 1981
Copyright
Courtesy of the National Library of Australia
Subject category
Australia, Art style: Painter-etchers 1860s-1938
Country of context
Australia
Creators
LINDSAY, Lionel | (1874–1961) Australian | Male | artist
Last Updated
18 Oct 2024