ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 61 | February 2003
World-travelling Magpie Comes Home
![]() |
| J. (Jacques)
Arago, 17901855 Voyage de lUranie, Oiseaux, Yellow and Black Bird of New Holland watercolour and pencil; image 20.3 x 26.5 cm., on sheet 27.8 x 33.7 cm nla.pic-an24283379 |
![]() |
| Antoine-Germain
Bevalet, 17791850. Voyage de lUranie, Oiseaux, Cassican
Fluteur, White-backed Magpie watercolour and pencil; image 26.8 x 18.8 cm., on sheet 37.6 x 29.5 cm nla.pic-an24283548 |
Also among the items from the Freycinet Collection purchased at the Christies auction was a watercolour of an Australian magpie painted in France in the early 1820s. This much-travelled bird had the honour of having its portrait painted by the French artist Antoine-Germain Bevalet. And it truly is a portraitnot taken from a dead specimen but drawn from a live creature with a light in its eye, a sheen to its feathers and the confidence typical of its species.
The voyage of the Uranie, captained by Louis de Freycinet from 1817 to 1820, called into Port Jackson in 1819. The magpie was probably captured at this time, and added to a collection of plants and animals intended to be taken to France. The French voyages to Australia and the South Pacific were distinguished by a predilection for the removal of live animals as well as plants. They were destined for study in Frances museums and academies or to grace the gardens of patrons. Sadly, many of the animals on the 181720 expedition, including an echidna, did not survive an incident in which Freycinets ship was damaged in the Falkland Islands. The hardy magpie, however, completed the voyage and lived on in Paris for several years.
Other watercolours acquired in the same auction lot depict a yellow and black honey-eater and two parrots. In addition, the Library was fortunate enough to acquire Lot 92, which depicts an Aboriginal burial ceremony in the Sydney region in 1819. This drawing was made in France and based on a sketch now lost; it is the closest existing representation of the original image.
Digitised images of these drawings may be viewed on the <Catalogue>.
Linda Groom, Curator of Pictures
| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: gateways@nla.gov.au