Melbourne, 1858, George Rowe, panorama, lithograph
Summary
Long hand painted lithograph, two sheets joined, mounted on backing board.
The lithograph depicts the city from that most important of early vantage points, Observatory Hill (now known as Flagstaff Hill.) Rowe’s skill is in conveying the maximum information while also giving the viewer a sense of being ‘on the spot.’
Rowe not only shows the most important landmarks such as the 1854 Exhibition Building, the original public library (now the State Library of Victoria), the Police Barracks and the Houses of Parliament Melbourne: he also presents a colourful tableaux of the various people that came to live and work in early Melbourne, including the indigenous and Chinese communities, gold diggers, a detachment of police and a gold escort. In the background ships surround the port of Williamstown.
George Rowe (1796-1864), a Dorset-born painter and engraver, was commissioned by the British Government to make watercolour drawings of the Victorian gold fields and arrived in Victoria in 1852. He soon found himself making ‘two guineas per day from the sale of sketches’. His accomplished works include panoramic views of Ballarat, Bendigo and Hobart. Rowe returned to England via Sydney in 1859.
