Rainbow lorikeet, 1772 / Moses Griffith

Bib ID:
6155314
Format:
Picture
Author:
Griffith, Moses, 1747-1819, artist
Online Version:
National Library of Australia digitised item
Description:
  • 1772
  • 1 painting : gouache on vellum ; 30 x 23.5 cm, on mount 45 x 37.7 cm, biographical details typed on board.
Summary:

"The blue-headed loryquet (Rainbow Lorikeet). Whilst The Endeavour was anchored in Botany Bay, a live rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus) was captured and subsequently became a pet on board the vessel. The parrot eventually arrived alive in England, and in the autumn of 1771 was sketched in London by the Welsh artist Moses Griffith, who was servant and travelling companion to the noted zoologist Thomas Pennant. This species is first described by Sydney Parkinson in his journal. The painting was previously unknown to historians, and is the earliest known European painting of an Australian bird. This is the first time this painting has been publically displayed"--Accompanying documentation.

Biography/History:

"Moses Griffith was born in 1747 and died after 1819. He was born at Trygainhouse in Lleyn, a peninsular on the coast of Caenarvonshire, of very poor parents. In 1769 he became the servant of the naturalist, Thomas Pennant who taught him to draw, and together they travelled through Scotland (1769), to Harrogate (1773), etc, and various trips to Wales."--Accompaying documentation.

Notes:
  • Title from acquisitions documentation, see file no. NLA12/2353.
  • Inscriptions: "Moses Griffiths pinxt 1772"--Signed lower left.
  • Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138157473
Source of Acquisition:
Purchased 2012.
Subject:
Rainbow lorikeet -- Australia -- Pictorial works
Exhibited:
  • Exhibited: "Cook and the Pacific, National Library of Australia, 19 September 2018 - 10 February 2019.
  • Exhibited: Treasures Gallery NLA Iteration 8, August 2014-August 2015
Copyright:

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