ARAGO, Jacques Etienne Victoire Sauvage de la Nouvelle-hollande avenant de combattre (Port Jackson). Paris, Langlume 1840
Lithograph, 300 x 222 mm. (sheet size); fine.
Confronting image of a Port Jackson Aborigine with club raised in his right hand and a severed head in his left.
The rather terrifying image is by Jacques Arago, the official artist on Louis de Freycinet's expedition in the Uranie. The expedition spent considerable time in as New South Wales as well as Western Australia, and Arago made numerous studies of local tribespeople.
Arago's portraits tended towards sensationalism, which made his work very popular with his European audience. This portrait bears a strong resemblance to Nicolas Petit's portrait of a "Sauvage adulte des environs du port jackson", which was published as plate 20 in the official account of the Baudin voyages, which may indicate strong tribal characteristics, or that Arago studied he predecessor's drawings when preparing his own work for publication.
$A650
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