tranquil

WOW! PowerhouseMuseum, I think you have a gem in your hands! This is one of the early footbridges (looking east) across Mosman Bay on the north shore of Sydney Harbour. The run-down buildings are part of the original whaling station; no longer there, except for 'The Barn', out of shot. See www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/2008/august-2008/Mosman... for more footbridge information. More importantly, the buildings are in the famous Tom Roberts painting of "Mosman's Bay" 1894. See save-mosmans-bay.com/painting.html and an enlargement save-mosmans-bay.com/images/Mosmans Bay-1.jpg . The photograph and the painting seem to be at a similar time (1894) judging from the similar costumes and lack of other buildings. There are a lot of pictures in this collection of Mosman and Cremorne. Could it be that the photographer knew Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, and others at the artists' camp at Little Sirius Cove just over the hill behind? A huge leap of the imagination, I know, but what if those people, who are appearing in several group shots, are Streeton, Roberts, etc.?!

There are several discrepancies, which I suppose you put down to artistic licence. For instance a missing chimney and wharf wooden railings on the painting. The painting also has a large black (incongruous imho) sign in front of the buildings - the back of it shows up here on the persistent URL magnification. The more I research, the more I have a hunch that a lot of these pictures were taken by Tom Roberts, who is described as an artist AND photographer. The same-ish group of people and boats pop up in many photographs - they are obviously friends of the photographer, and 'pose' for the pictures looking directly at the camera (except the women!). Many of the picures are beautifully composed, like a painting. I am having no luck (yet) getting a match with faces from biographical websites. Presuming Tom Roberts is behind the camera, but the other men could include Arthur Streeton, Charles Conder, Fred McCubbin, Girolamo Nerdi, AH Fulwood, Julian Ashton, etc. HELP NEEDED please from an expert! More about the Heidelberg School, links to paintings and biographies: www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/heidelbergschool...

A painting by Albert Henry Fullwood (1863-1930) "Mosman's Bay" [ca.1904] clearly showing the bridge, looking north up the bay: nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an2288936

Here's another photograph of the bridge, bay, and buildings viewed from up the hill to the left: www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=385883

beachcomberaustralia - you are corerct about the location. It is Mosman Bay. The are some very good comparison photographs in the collection of Mosman Library. Go the this search page: www.photosau.com/Mosman/scripts/home.asp and search for these image numbers as keywords: 4016964 4017069 4022561 4022578

Pretty special!

Stunning.

Can these photos be purchased anywhere please

We can sell you prints or digital copies of the images. To get a quote just send us an e-mail to info@twarchives.org.uk with the reference number of the image or images that you're interested in. It would be helpful if you could let us know whether you want a digital copy or an A4 / A3 print.

Congrats on Explore! ⭐ January 15, 2024

Love it.