• Title
  Maria [or Julia?] Johnston, 1824 / R. Read [Richard Read Senior]
• Creator
  Richard Read, approximately 1765-1827?
• Call number
  ML 1521
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1824
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Watercolours
• Reference code
  9642058
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  1 watercolour - on wove paper - visible image 34 x 25 cm, in frame 42 x 33 cm
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  Julia Johnston (1796?-1879) was the eldest daughter of George Johnston (1764-1823) and Esther Johnston (1767-1846), née Abrahams/Julian, a Jewish convict woman.
  
  Maria Johnston (1800-1827) was the fourth child of George and Esther Johnston.
  
  Reference:
  Library correspondence file
• Collection history
  A photograph held in the collections of the Mitchell Library, dated ca. 1895-1900, shows the portrait hanging on the wall at Horsley, in New South Wales, which at the time was owned by the Weston family. Blanche Weston, nee Johnston, was the sister of Julia Johnston. Julia Johnston was living at Horsley at the time of her death in December 1879. The portrait was sold at the Cowlishaw Collection sale, Sotheby’s, Sydney, Lot 211, 17 October 1984. References: Library correspondence file Photographs mainly of Horsley, Fairfield, New South Wales, including interior and exterior views, ca. 1895-1900 / Henry King (Mitchell Library call no. PXA 559)
• Scope and Content
  A full-length portrait, in an original gilt frame, of Maria or Julia Johnston accompanied by her dog, standing in the grounds of Annandale House. The family vault, on the grounds of the property, is depicted in the background.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• Published Information
  The portrait has been published in: Creating Australia, 200 years of art 1788-1988 / by the Art Gallery of South Australia ; edited & introduced by Daniel Thomas ; selection co-ordinated by Ron Radford ; with contributions by Leigh Astbury ... [et al.]. Sydney : International Cultural Corporation of Australia and Art Gallery Board of South Australia, 1988 (Call no. Special Collections Area Q709.94/54), and Dogs in Australian art / Steven Miller. Mile End, S. Aust. : Wakefield Press, 2016 (Call no. Mitchell Library H 2016/1108).
• General note
  
  Although family tradition, and a later pencil inscription on its stretcher, identifies the subject of this portrait as Julia Johnston, it is probably more likely to depict her sister Maria (1800-1827) who married Thomas Brotheridge in 1824 (see Sydney Gazette 25 March 1824 p.2). The portrait was most likely to have been commissioned to celebrate that event in 1824: portraits are often commissioned at the same time major as life events such as marriages.
  
  Reference:
  Information supplied by Mitchell Librarian, October 2019
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  Signed and dated lower right '1824 / R.READ'.
  Inscribed in pencil on strainer 'Miss Julia Johnston [illegible] Horsley'. This inscription is in a later 19th - early 20th century hand and is not contemporary to the work.
  Exhibition label for 'International Cultural Corporation of Australia Limited / The Great Australian Art Exhibition, 1988...' adhered to backing board of portrait.
• Subject
  Art, Colonial--New South Wales.
  Dogs--Australia--Pictorial works.
  Johnston, Julia, 1796?-1879--Portraits.
  Tombs--New South Wales--Sydney--Pictorial works.
  Women--New South Wales--Portraits.
  
• Place
  Annandale (N.S.W.)
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE15928874

View Media Files

1.

2.

3.

Show more