Tablet commemorating James Cook's and Joseph Banks discoveries, 1821; Bas-reliefs / by Dora Ohlfsen, 1912-1913

LR 95

fonds

1821, 1912-1913

Graphic Materials, Objects

902681

4 sculptures - bas-reliefs, bronze: - 63 x 48.5 cm
1 plaque - bronze on wooden base: - 54 x 43.5 cm

The Royal Society of New South Wales was established as the The Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June 1821. In 1850, after a period of informal activity, the Society was revived and its name became the Australian Philosophical Society. The Society was granted Royal Assent on 12 December 1866 and it was renamed the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Dora Ohlfsen was born in Ballarat in 1867. She studied music in Germany and then traveled in Finland and various Baltic countries doing paintings and caricatures. She moved to Italy and began studying sculpture. She visited Sydney in 1912 and during World War 1 worked as a Red Cross nurse in Italy. In 1916 she produced an Anzac memorial medal which was sold in London for the relief of Australian soldiers. During 1921-22 she was in Australia where she made medallion portraits of William Morris Hughes, Nellie Stewart and other prominent people. She died in Rome in 1948.

References:
Alan McCulloch, Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Vol. 2, 1984.
Ken Scarlett, Australian Sculptors, 1980

ITEM 1
Plaque commemorating the discoveries of James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks, 1821.

ITEMS 2-5
4 Bas reliefs of unidentified men / by Dora Ohlfsen, 1912-1913.

Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Pic.Acc. Update Project - Information transferred from Pic.Acc.6341 as part of the eRecords Project, 2012-2013

One bas-relief signed "Dora Ohlfsen / Sydney / 1912" & 3 bas-reliefs signed "Dora Ohlfsen / Sydney / 1913"

Inscription on the tablet: "AD MDCCLXX / Under the auspices of British Science / these shores were discovered / by / James Cook and Joseph Banks / the Columbus and Maecenas of their time / this spot once saw them ardent in their pursuit of knowledge / now / to their memory this tablet is inscribed / in the first year of / The Philosophical Society of Australasia / Sir Thomas Brisbane CB FRSL & E / corresponding member of the Institute of France / President / AD MDCCCXXI"

There is no file for this accession but it seems likely that the items came from the Royal Society of NSW whose origins date back to The Philosophical Society of Australasia.