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85/1284-1453 Photographic negative, Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, gelatin / glass, photographer unknown, published by Kerry and Co, Upolu, Samoa, 1899. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 1, 85/1284-1453 Photographic negative, Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, gelatin / glass, photographer unknown, published by Kerry and Co, Upolu, Samoa, 1899. Click to enlarge

Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, Upolu, Samoa, 1899

Photographed
This photograph is one of around 30 images taken during the outbreak of hostilities in Samoa in 1899. This photograph is of the squad of supporters of chief Malietoa who were instructed by the British officer Lieutenant Gaunt. This image was taken before their engagement with Mata'afa's supporters in March and April 1899.

This war was the legacy of an earlier dispute between the Samoan chiefs Tamasese and Malietoa which had erupted in 1888-1889 after the heavy handed involvement of British, …

This object is part of

85/1284 Glass plate negatives, various subjects, silver gelatin / glass, published by Kerry & Co, part of the Tyrrell collection, New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, 1890-1917
Kerry & Co. photographs from the Tyrrell Collection
1884-1917

Summary

Object No.

85/1284-1453

Object Statement

Photographic negative, Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, gelatin / glass, photographer unknown, published by Kerry and Co, Upolu, Samoa, 1899

Physical Description

Photographic negative, Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, gelatin / glass, photographer unknown, published by Kerry and Co., Upolu, Samoa, 1899

A silver gelatin dry plate glass negative in landscape format. The image shows a large group of men in military formation. Each man wears a dark wrap around skirt or lava lava and most wear a light coloured top with a cloth sash across there chest and a turban wrapped around there heads. The men hold rifles. The first two rows aim there rifles with the front row down on one knee and the row behind standing. To the side of the men in military formation another three men squat, two of them hold drums while the other holds a wind instrument. Three thatched roofs and two corrugated iron roofs can be seen behind the men. Coconut trees can be seen above the roof tops. The bottom left corner of the plate has cracked in two places. The caption, studio number and studio mark are inscribed on the reverse of the negative.

72F/130 Tyrrell Inventory Number, 2793 Kerry Studio Number

Marks

Handwritten caption and studio number towards the bottom of the negative reads '2793 LIEUT GAUNT'S SQUAD KERRY PHOTO SYDNEY'.

Short URL

https://ma.as/28039

Dimensions

Width

215 mm

Production

Photographed

Made

Notes

Charles Kerry was born in 1858 and by 1885 was running a studio in partnership with C. D. Jones. This partnership lasted until 1892, when Charles became sole owner and changed the studio's name to Kerry and Co.

By 1890 the company was employing a number of photographers who would become famous in their own right. George Bell who covered rural New South Wales was employed in 1890 and Harold Bradley was doing outdoor work and covering events around Sydney by 1899.

Kerry continued to work in the field and in 1895 he took photographs of Royal National Park for New South Wales Government, photographed Queensland artesian bores and was employed by the New South Wales Government to travel the state and photograph Indigenous Australians. In 1897 Kerry led the first party to reach the summit of Mt Kosciuszko in winter conditions and photographed the Jenolan caves.

By 1900 Kerry had turned his studio into one of the largest and most respected photographic establishments in the colony. His new four story premises at 310 George St were designed by the architect H. C. Kent and the third floor studios alone could accommodate 70 people wanting their portraits taken.

In 1913 Kerry retired leaving the running of the studio to his nephew, unfortunately the business did not do well and Kerry and Co. closed its doors in 1917. Kerry himself died in 1928.

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, January, 2009

References
Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988
David, Millar, Charles Kerry's Federation Australia, Sydney, David Ell Press, 1981
Tyrrell, James, Australian Aboriginal and South Sea Islands Implements, Weapons and Curios, James Tyrrell, Sydney, 1929

History

Used

Used

Used

Used

Used

Notes

This photographic negative is one of 2900 Kerry & Co. photographs in the Powerhouse Museum's 'Tyrrell Collection' once owned by Sydney bookseller, James Tyrrell. Almost all of these negatives are 21.5 x 20.3 cm (10 x 8 inch) glass plates and many of those now held by the Powerhouse Museum collection would have been used to create postcards. In addition to the Kerry & Co. Studio images, the Tyrrell Collection at the Powerhouse Museum includes glass plate negatives published by Henry King and a number of other negatives by unattributed photographers

James Tyrrell used the images by Kerry & Co. and Henry King to produce his own booklets and views of New South Wales but although full of iconic Australian images, the collection does not appear to have been fully utilised by Tyrrell.

In 1980 the collection was purchased by Australian Consolidated Press who published a limited series of 2000 contact prints from the collection. Housed in boxes copies of these were given to the State Library of New South Wales and the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney.

In 1985 Australian Consolidated Press donated the collection to the Powerhouse keeping a set of copy prints for themselves. The collection at this time consisted of 7,903 glass plate negatives and 7,916 contact positive prints.

A further 2,500 Kerry & Co. negatives are held in the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney, although these do not appear to have been acquired from Charles Kerry and Co. by Tyrrell.

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, January, 2009

References
Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988
David, Millar, Charles Kerry's Federation Australia, Sydney, David Ell Press, 1981
Tyrrell, James, Australian Aboriginal and South Sea Islands Implements, Weapons and Curios, James Tyrrell, Sydney, 1929

Cite this Object

Harvard

Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, Upolu, Samoa, 1899 2021, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 1 June 2023, <https://ma.as/28039>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/28039 |title=Lieutenant Gaunt, sailors and some of Malietoa's supporters, Upolu, Samoa, 1899 |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=1 June 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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