Corrobborree or Dance of the Natives of New South Wales New Holland.

Rare large c.18th engraving of a corroboree held in honour of Governor Macquarie’s visit to Newcastle. The original painting for this engravings as been attributed to Joseph Lycett, although it has often said to have been by Major James Wallis, on the grounds of its comparative closeness to this engraving.

Stylistically it accords with Lycett’s watercolour album in the National Library “Drawings of the natives & scenery of Van Diemens Land, 1830” : see plates such as “Aborigines resting by camp fire, near the mouth of the Hunter River, Newcastle, N.S.W”. It also resembles plates in his publication “Views in Australia”, London, 1824This striking image is the earliest and largest on record. The tall figure, laughing, on the left, is the chieftain or king of the Newcastle Tribe, Buriejou. Source; State Library of NSW

Burrigon (or Buriejou, Long Jack or Burigan) is pictured in the engraving, described by Captain James Wallis: “All the principal figures in the fore-ground are from original portraits; the tall figure laughing, on the left, is the chieftain or king of the Newcastle tribe, called Buriejou, – a brave, expert fellow, who has lately presented Governor Macquarie with his eldest son, to be placed in the native institution, as a proof of his confidence in British humanity”

From: Wallis, An Historical Account of The Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements; in Illustration of Twelve Views, Engraved By W. Preston, a Convict, from Drawings Taken on the Spot.