Aboriginal group, including a man holding a broad shield, with two Europeans. Murray River (northern Victoria or southern New South Wales), circa 1868.

A$2,200 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 65 x 102 mm (mount), verso with wet stamp of Jos[ep]h Baume, Photographic Artist. From Swanston Street, Melbourne. and inscription in ink No. 3 (presumably the photographer s sequence number); the albumen print is in very good condition (a tiny dint above the man with the broad shield), with good tonal range and clarity; the front of the mount has just a few spots of light foxing around the right margin. An important and possibly unique image that records an Aboriginal group comprising seven men and two women dressed in European clothing, in their encampment in close proximity to the Murray River possibly in the vicinity of Echuca. The man at the centre of the photograph is holding a broad shield with a design typical of this part of the Murray, both in the Southern Riverina of New South Wales and in northeastern Victoria. Seated beside them are two white men, the one on the left being quite smartly dressed as if visiting from town, the one on the right with the attire and demeanour of an unsophisticated bushie . While we can only speculate on the relationship that the group had with these two men, it appears likely they were still living on their own country, albeit on land that was now occupied by white settlers. The photograph predates the Maloga Mission, which was established near Moama by Daniel Matthews in 1874. In all likelihood the men and women are Barapa Barapa, Wemba Wemba or Yorta Yorta people, many of whom would s

• Binding: Hardcover

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