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John Hunter, 1737-1821
sketchbook containing 100 watercolours
Draughtsmanship was a normal part of a naval officer's training. Skill, however, was developed with practice rather than through formal lessons. Hunter's skill as a surveyor and chartmaker was rated highly because of his ability to draw and his methodical approach. Hunter took enthusiastically to the task of recording the flora and fauna of New South Wales, finding it afforded 'much entertainment to the curious in the science of botany'. Included in the sketchbook are several drawings by John Lewin. The plant illustrated is the New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax), first described by George and Johann Forster on Cook's second voyage. Growing naturally in New Zealand and on Norfolk Island, the flowers are usually red. Hunter has portrayed the yellow-flowered form. On purchasing the Hunter sketchbook at Sotheby's in 1953, Nan Kivell wrote that the sketchbook was 'certainly a coronet if not a crown to any collection'.
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A selection of images from the Paradise Possessed exhibition. National Library of Australia. Click here to find out more about NLA exhibitions. Copyright: ©1998, National Library of Australia
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