Shearers shed 1885 Circa

This painting was done from an old black and white photograph, photographer unknown and date unknown,  but you will notice that all the shearers are hand shearing and no mechanical shearing insight, as mechanical shearing start in 1885 and all shearing sheds  were mechanical by 1915 we would have to say this photo was taken about 1800 to 1895 as this is a large shearing  shed you would think it that would be started to turn to mechanical shearing by 1895.  This photograph was taken in an Australian shearing shed before the introduction of mechanised shearing. Shearing by hand was a slow process and it often took about half an hour to shear a sheep. In the 1880s a number of people tried to design mechanical shears that would speed up the process. In 1877 an Australian, Fredrick Wolsely, produced shears that were demonstrated in a race with a hand shearer. The mechanical shears were not fast but they gave a cleaner cut. After the race, the machine shears were used to cut an extra kilo of wool from the sheep that had been shorn by hand. In 1888 forty shearing stands were installed at Dunlop Station, near Bourke. It was the first shearing shed to be fitted out with mechanised sheep shears.

The Photo

   Silver gelatin dry plate glass negative in landscape format. The image depicts the interior of a shearing shed. Piles of wool and wool classers are depicted in the foreground of the image. The overseer is depicted sitting at a small table in the center of the image. The table is flanked by wooden bins of newly shorn wool. The pens containing sheep awaiting shearing are depicted immediately in front of the overseer, along the center of the shed. The shearing boards are located along the outer walls on the left and right sides of the image. Shearers can be seen shearing sheep on the boards. They appear to be shearing by hand using manual shears as no mechanised equipment is visible. Several young boys can be seen near the shearers collecting the newly shorn wool for placement in the bins. Wool packs can be partially seen on the right side of the image.

 The caption, studio mark and studio number are inscribed on the 85/1284-410

Glass negative, full plate, 'A Shearing Shed', Kerry and Co, Sydney, Australia, c. 1884-1917.reverse of the negative

Location.

As for where the shearing shed is from people in the business their opinions are that is in a hot area due to the canvas sides and opening roof creating ventilation from the searing heat, that is about as close as we can get but as it is a very early shed due to all hand Shearing making it possible that it was in the Macarthur area.

Why and how I painted this painting, the moment I saw it the bright sunlight and dark shadows the people who where looking at the photographer I just had to bring them to life, at the time I didn’t relies the complexity of this painting I had to keep the lights bright without overpowering the dark areas, getting the colour right, painting the wool with bright sunlight shining on it, I am pleased with the outcome to bring these shearers to life again, I hope you think I have done them justice.   

Regards John Impey

 

References

David, Millar, Charles Kerry’s Federation Australia, Sydney, David Ell Press, 1981 Valdon, ‘Our Artistic Workers; Mr. George Bell’, Australian Photographic Journal, Volume 17, Number 199, December 21, 1908

This photographic negative was published by the Sydney firm Charles Kerry & Co. and is part of the Powerhouse Museum’s Tyrrell collection which contains over 2,900 glass plate negatives by Kerry & Co. Although a few appear to be from the 1880s most were produced between 1892 and 1917. Over this period, and well into the early 1900s, prints from these negatives appeared in many Australian publications and albums of views. In 1903 the company began producing postcards from these negatives, further establishing the images as some of the most significant and best known early views of New South Wales.

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Below is a copy of the photo that this painting was painted from.