Giclee, George French Angas, South Australia Illustrated, Lynedoch Valley, Looking towards the Barossa Range

Archival limited edition giclee print ( /300) after the original hand colored lithograph by J.W. Giles after artist George French Angas for his ambitious publication "South Australia Illustrated".

Originally published in London between 1846 - 47, the prints were sold to 200 subscribers, eager to see what this brave British prototype freely-settled colony had to offer after a decade of settlement. How many of those 200 original hand coloured lithographs still exist has prompted issuing this high quality light-safe inkjet process printed on cotton conservation paper.

Lynedoch Valley was settled in 1839, named by Surveyor-General Colonel William Light after his great friend, Lord Lynedoch, who was his captain in the Battle of Barrosa in 1811, part of the War against Napoleon's French Army. Both names were later misspelled, as Barossa & Lyndoch, the latter becoming a service town for the vibrant Grape and Wine industry of the area, rather than wheat. In 1840 Lyndoch was to become one of the earliest 'country towns' attracting German immigrants in June !847 German immigrants that took up sections 567 & 568, calling their village Hoffnungsthal, meaning Valley of Hope.

In the foreground a shepherd with his dog and sheep look back over wheat-fields. There is a windmill to the mid-left that is believed to be artistic license as no evidence remains that it had existed. The view of plentiful farmland was a sure lure to potential emigrants.

In the accompanying text: 'Between twenty and thirty miles from Adelaide, in a N.N.E. direction is situated Lynedoch Valley, a rich agricultural tract of land extending towards the Barossa Range. A considerable portion of land under cultivation is the property of the South Australian Company, producing some of the finest wheat in the world...'.

The artist George French Angas - son of George Fife Angas, founder of the South Australian Company, who arguably saved the fledgling experimental colony. As a naturalist and painter, he was ideal for expedition inclusion. In 1844 he joined Governor George Grey who ventured to the south-east of the New Colony. Consequently, Angas painted some of the earliest views of South Australia’s hinterland.

Size of image = 30 x 35 cm (12 x 14 inches)

Issued with Verifying Certificate.