Early English cricket tour of Australia: a new acquisition unveiled

About

Join us for the first public viewing of a significant new acquisition of the State Library and Archives of Tasmania: the most important historic painting of a cricket match in the state.

Celebrated Australian sports journalist Warwick Hadfield will be speaking at this free event, joined by Allport Librarian Caitlin Sutton.

The painting documents the first English cricket tour of Australia (1861-2) and the Hobart match at the Domain in Nipaluna/Hobart.

It depicts the amateur Hobart and Launceston players (Hobart in crimson, Launceston in white shirts) competing against the touring English professional team in white. Tasmania lost, but only by 4 wickets.

The Tasmanian Cricket Museum holds a sketch of the 1862 match layout, confirming the painting’s accuracy and historical value.

The painting was cared for by the Mitchell Family for generations until it was sold at Sotheby's Australia and subsequently held in a private collection in the UK until it was acquired using funds from the Allport bequest.

The acquisition was made possible by the privately funded Allport bequest. The State Library and Archives of Tasmania’s Allport collection houses one of the most significant collections of nineteenth century Tasmanian paintings in Hobart.

The work provides a detailed view of the Government Paddock, the cricket match, surrounding trees, tents, flags and crowd formation, contributing to the historical importance and understanding of the record of Hobart’s built and social landscape.Details in…