• Title
  [Panorama of Newcastle : watercolour drawings attributed to Edward Close]
• Creator
  E. C. (Edward Charles) Close, 1790-1866
• Call number
  PXD 576
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1821
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Drawings
• Reference code
  73429
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  Drawings - watercolour, panoramic drawing on 7 sheets which have been laid onto cloth backing. Paper has been cut in 3 equidistant places to enable the drawing to be folded - 41.5 x 364 (approx.) cm.
  
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright: Artist died before 1955
• General note
  
  Attributed to Edward Close, whose signature appears on the work.
  This watercolour was for some years attributed to Sophia Campbell, after comparison with what appear to be preliminary drawings for it in a sketchbook held by the National Library of Australia (call no. PIC R7255 LOC 8631) which was said to be by Campbell.
  Edward Close was in Newcastle in June 1821. On 13 June 1821 he petitioned Governor Macquarie for a land grant in the Hunter district: 'In some late excursions from Newcastle some tracks of country have induced a change of profession...' State Records of NSW Fiche 23035 4/1826 no.25. Close arrived in NSW in 1817 with the 48th Regiment, and was transferred to Newcastle in the early 1820s to supervise engineering works there. Close was appointed engineer of public works at Newcastle in November 1821.
  The designation of Sophia Campbell as an artist, now discounted, was based on long-standing Campbell family history. In May 2009 a companion sketchbook was offered for sale by Sotheby's Australia. Careful examination of the internal evidence of this sketchbook revealed that the artist of both sketchbooks was not Campbell, but instead Edward Close.
  Digital order no:Album ID : 843942
  High resolution images available on request
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  N.B. This Corrobory [i.e. corroboree] has no business here as it is never danced in the day-time. Taken at and finished in Newcastle on Hunter River. June 11th 1821. E. C. Close -- in ink at bottom on third sheet from right
• Subject
  Grand Vistas - Panoramas from the collection.
  
• Topic
  Aboriginal peoples (Australians)
  colonial art
  corroborees
  panoramic views
  windmills
  
• Place
  Christ Church Cathedral (Newcastle, N.S.W.)
  Government House (Newcastle, N.S.W.)
  Hunter River (N.S.W.)
  Newcastle (N.S.W.)
  Nobbys (Newcastle, N.S.W.)
  
• Exhibited in
  
  The work of art - Australian women writers and artists - State Library of New South Wales (14 August, 1995 - 11 February, 1996)
  A Rage for Curiosity - State Library of New South Wales (September 1997 - January 1998)
  An unbroken view - early nineteenth century panoramas - State Library of New South Wales (June 2006 - October 2006). Applies to: Exhibited as photographic reproduction only.
  Grand Vistas - Panoramas from the collection - State Library of New South Wales (May 2022 - April 2023)

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