Carl Schwarzburger (1850–?)
“Fern-Tree Gully”, c1886, wood engraving after an unacknowledged photograph of tree-ferns near Healesville in Victoria, Australia, by Nicholas
John Caire (1837–1918), “Fairy Scene at the
Landslip, Blacks’ Spur”, c1878 (see https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/framing-nicholas-caire-fairy-scene-at-the-landslip-blacks-spur-c-1878-2/)—with
a touch creative invention by Schwarzburger, especially regarding the inclusion
of a swagman into the composition making his way through the dense forest of
tree-ferns with his dog—from the first volume of the “Picturesque Atlas of
Australasia”, published in Sydney in three volumes of forty-two parts between
1886 and 1888 by The Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co., edited by Andrew Garran
(1825–1901).
Interestingly, the National Gallery of Victoria in its wall didactic
describing Caire’s photograph which inspired this engraving advises: “The ancient
associations of tree ferns were of particular interest to the colonial audience,
with ‘fern fever’, or pteridomania, sweeping the British Empire. The
photographer expressed his enchantment with such landscapes, he wrote of their
ability to bestow a feeling of ‘ecstatic bewilderment’ to anyone who visited.”
Wood-engraving on wove paper with wide margins as published.
Size: (sheet) 45.5 x 34.7 cm; (image borderline) 27.7 x 18 cm.
Inscribed within the image borderline: (lower right) “C Schwarzburger
fe”
Lettered below the image: (centre) “FERN-TREE GULLY.”
Condition: a strong and near faultless impression with generously wide
margins. Beyond significant but pale foxing in the margins, the sheet has no
tears, holes, abrasions or folds.
I am selling this large and very beautiful wood-engraving exemplifying
the fascination with tree-ferns in the late 1800s leading to phenomenon known
as “fern fever” (or pteridomania), for AU$213 in total (currently/approximately
US$142.15/EUR132.33/GBP112.07 at the time of posting this listing) including
Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of
course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is
in Australian dollars (AU$213) as this is my currency.
If you are interested in acquiring this marvellously engaging image of
a swagman with his accompanying dog finding their way through a lush tree-fern
forest—possibly with the goal of finding future employment at the end of their
trek—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a
PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.
This print has been sold
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