[Trompe l'oeil of various items of the personal and social life of John Elder and his family], 1887-1888 / watercolour by John Elder

XV/197

fonds

1887-1888

Graphic Materials, Drawings

9594117

1 drawing - pencil, ink and watercolour on wove paper - 78 x 135 cm.

John Elder (1847-1924) was born in London on 9 Feb 1847. The Elder family arrived in NSW on the Rose of Sharon on 13 April 1855. John married Annie Elizabeth Boshier (1854-1938) in Sydney, NSW and they had 8 children. He worked as a draftsman in Paddington and lived in Mosman in the mid to late 1880s. He died 8 September 1924 at his family home ‘Elderslie”, 21 Lennox St, Little Sirius Cove, Mosman and was buried at Macquarie Park Cemetery.

Elder family; Bill Bradshaw, Sydney; Ruth Simon; Trevor Kennedy purchase from Simon in 2005; Day Fine Art purchase from Kennedy in 2017.

This trompe l’oeil watercolour is an expression of the social and personal life of John Elder, a middle class draughtsman living in 19th century Sydney. Constructed for use as a table in the European artistic tradition of quodlibet, each painted item within the overall painting is of particular significance to the artist. Viewed as a whole, the individual paintings within the frame encompass references to his family, British heritage, travels, entertainment and contemporary historical events in Australia of the time. Although everything appears to be haphazardly arranged, the composition is deliberate and allows for the viewer to infer connections and meanings between the objects and the creator.

This trompe l’oeil is particularly interesting for its depiction of historical events. Painted during the centenary celebrations, Elder includes his own written Ode and Refrain celebrating Cook’s discovery of Australia, and the subsequent founding of the colony in 1788. A selection of local newspapers include a commemoration of NSW troops to the Sudan (March 8 1885), along with portraits of key political figures, most notably Henry Parkes. References to his Scottish heritage (tartan fabric, thistle, illustrations of Mary Queen of Scots) are placed alongside a program of The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria (20 June 1887).

The watercolour is a moving illustration of Elder’s domestic life; there are several paintings of his family utilising a range of classical styles – portraits of five of his children (titled ‘The Children’s Jubilee’ and ‘Mischief’), his wife (‘Summer’) and a portrait of his sister Euphemia (deceased in 1888) depicted as a saint.

A painting titled “Mossmans Bay” [sic] offers a glimpse into the view of his daily commute, along with personal effects in his pocket such as a ferry ticket stub, comb, a penny, pocket knife, key and reading glasses that also connect the viewer to Elder’s daily life.

His middle class cultural pursuits are conveyed through the depiction of a fan, perfume bottle and a program from His Majesty’s Theatre. Close by is confetti ready to be cut up, sheet music, an old master drawing, and a painting of pansies. Postcards of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pyramids at Giza indicate he was either well-travelled or wished to travel.

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

Trompe l’oeil (trick of the eye) is a painting technique with origins in Ancient Rome and Greece used to depict three dimensional images on a flat surface. The works usually displayed everyday household and personal items (playing cards, ribbons, scissors, buttons) depicted as being casually left around.

Colonial trompe l’oeil works in Australia and New Zealand were mostly created by surveyors, draftsmen or printmakers. These paintings were often extremely personal displays that expressed the skills of the artist and communicated their personality and within the whole, narratives of social life. Paintings of seemingly random ephemeral objects were juxtaposed in ways that created subtle connections and meaning between disposable artefacts of popular culture (newspapers, advertisements) and personal communications and objects.

Signed and dated on lower left by John Elder. "JE 1887-1888, Sydney N.S.W."