• Title
  [View of Colonial Secretary's residence, Sydney], 1839 / C. Martens [Conrad Martens]
• Creator
  Conrad Martens, 1801-1878
• Call number
  ML 1518
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1839
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Watercolours
• Reference code
  9638091
• Physical Description
  1 watercolour - on wove paper - visible image 44 x 63 cm, in frame 65 x 83 cm
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  The Colonial Secretary’s residence, completed around 1812, was originally built for Ellis Bent, the Deputy Judge-Advocate, who lived in the house until his death in 1815. By 1826, the house had become the residence of the Colonial Secretary, Alexander Macleay, his wife Eliza, and their six daughters. The building was demolished in the 1870s.
  
  Around 1820, a sandstone public fountain, designed by Francis Greenway, was erected in the street at the southwest corner of Macquarie Place, outside its enclosed boundary. The classical style Doric-columned fountain was built by Edward Cureton. The fountain was demolished to make way for a statue of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, which was unveiled in June 1883.
  
  References:
  The Australian colonial house : architecture and society in New South Wales, 1788-1842 / James Broadbent. Potts Point, N.S.W. : Hordern House in association with the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, and supported by the Friends of the Historic Houses Trust, 1997.
  Dictionary of Sydney. https://dictionaryofsydney.org/ (accessed 19 July 2019)
• Collection history
  The watercolour was sold by Hampel Fine Art Auctions Munich, Lot 206, 4 July 2018. Conrad Martens’ Account of Pictures painted at Sydney N.S.Wales, lists two paintings of ‘Mr McLeays House’ which were purchased by Harrington Esq (Thomas Cudbert Harington) and L. Campbell Esq. (Pieter Laurentz Campbell) in March 1839. Harington and Campbell were Alexander Macleay’s sons-in-law, and these two paintings were probably commissioned by the Macleay family. Given the sale of the painting in Germany, it is probable that the watercolour is the one purchased from Martens by Pieter Laurentz Campbell, whose descendants had connections to Germany. During the 1870s, Campbell’s son, Captain Ronald Macleay Laurentz Campbell, fought in the Franco-Prussian war for German Emperor Wilhelm I, and was awarded a title by the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. References: Hampel Fine Art Auctions Munich. https://www.hampel-auctions.com/ (accessed 18 April 2019). Conrad Martens papers, 1835-1878, with associated material 1897-1919, 1951 (Mitchell Library call no. DLMS 142) Hordern House 2019 catalogue. https://www.hordern.com/ (accessed 12 April 2019).
• Scope and Content
  A view, painted from the west, of the drinking fountain on the edge of Macquarie Place, Bridge Street, Sydney, with the Colonial Secretary’s residence and gardens in the background, signed by the artist and dated 1839. A group of four Indigenous people are depicted standing on the side of Bridge Street, opposite the entrance gate to the residence.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• Related Material
  Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 / Conrad Martens (457268)
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  Signed and dated lower right, 'C. Martens 1839'.
• Conservation note
  
  Frame provided by vendor and not original to the work.
• Subject
  Architecture, Colonial--New South Wales.
  Fountains--New South Wales--Sydney.
  Official residences.
  Aboriginal Australians in art.
  Greenway, Francis, 1777-1837
  
• Place
  Colonial Secretary's Residence (Bridge Street, Sydney, N.S.W.)
  Bridge Street (Sydney, N.S.W.)
  Macquarie Place (Sydney, N.S.W.)
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE15928708

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