Description:

CHARLES SUMMERS (1825-1878) attributed: Patinated bronze plaque depicting John King the only survivor of the famous & tragic Burke & Wills expedition which left Victoria in 1860. Summers was Melbournes leading sculptor during the mid 19th century & was commissioned to build the Burke & Wills monument in Melbourne which was cast by him at his foundry. This panel is most likely part of the original submission to the Burke & Wills Memorial commission which was rejected on the grounds of not being Neo-classical enough as it depicts King alone & exhausted in an Aboriginal mia mia. Housed in a finely finished one piece red gum frame with polished cedar back as you would expect when submitting to a committee. Plaque 26 x 21.5cm, frame 40.5 x 35.5cm