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C1778
Lipurus Cinereus
Rare c.18th engraving of a Koala based on the watercolour by Ferdinand Bauer made on Matthew Flinders Voyage in the Investigator. There is a watercolour by John Lewin in the New South Wales Library titeld; Coola, an animal of the … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Lipurus Cinereus
Date:
C1778
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving with original hand colouring.
Paper Size:
197mm
x 257mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1778
Description:
Rare c.18th engraving of a Koala based on the watercolour by Ferdinand Bauer made on Matthew Flinders Voyage in the Investigator.
There is a watercolour by John Lewin in the New South Wales Library titeld; Coola, an animal of the oppossum tribe from New South Wales, with a similar composition, dated 1803.
In the early depictions of Australian exotic zoology, it was the unique mammals such as the kangaroo and platypus that captured the artists and collectors imagination, and as a consequence were more often illustrated. It is not surprising then, that the Koala was one of the least depicted of the local fauna and it wasn’t until 1798, some nine years after settlement, that it was first recorded and then formally described in 1811.
1788 First sighting (26th January). John Price, Bargo, NSW ‘There is another animal which the natives call a ‘cullawine’, which much resembles the sloths in America.
1802 First specimen (parts only) Barrallier, location unknown NSW ‘The Aboriginals brought portions of a monkey (in the native language Colo), but they had cut it into pieces… I sent these two feet to the Government preserved in a bottle of brandy.
1803 First published account (21st August) Sydney Gazette, Port Jackson, NSW An Animal whose species was never before found in the Colony, is in His excellency’s possession.
1808 First scientific report (23rd June ) Everard Home, S.W. Of Port Jackson It is commonly about two feet long and one high, in the girth about one foot and half it is covered with the soft fur, lead coloured on the back, and white on the belly.
Common names: Koala, Koala Bear, Native Bear.
Modern binomial name: Phascolarctos cinereus
First described: Goldfuss 1817
From Schreber, Johann Christian Daniel (1739-1810), Die Saugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur
Collections:
Smithsonian Institution: Record ID silgoi_66659
Smithsonian Institution: Record ID silgoi_66659
Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760 - 1826)
Bauer was born in Austria to an artistic family, his father was court painter to the Prince of Liechtenstein. He and his brothers were given lessons in plant collecting and drawing from a young age. His elder brother, Franz, became the first botanical artist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, England. Ferdinand was the botanical draughtsman to botanist Robert Brown on the Investigator voyage. He sketched the plants and animals they saw and collected. Some of his finished pieces were published in the first detailed account of Australasia's natural history, Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae (1813). Bauer's drawings were unique in their morphological and chromatic accuracy. He studied collections and sketches, and sought the expertise of Brown, to produce sophisticated pieces. It is thought that Bauer made 2,060 field drawings during the HMS Investigator voyage, the majority of which are held by the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Austria.
