Gold Mining And Architecture, Coolgardie, Western Australia
c1890s. Collection of 20 colour lithographs, most captioned in image, sizes range from 5 x 12.5cm to 10.1 x 27.3cm. Most with repaired tears, creases, missing portions or old folds, stains and soiling overall. All laid down on acid-free backing. The lithographs, originally pasted into a scrapbook, were most likely from a newspaper supplement. The images depict buildings and views including the Coolgardie Hotel (the only duplicated image in this collection), Great Western Hotel, Exchange Hotel, Power & McCabe Billiard Saloon, the Coolgardie Stock Exchange, the office of the Coolgardie Miner (“the first paper published on the field”), Coolgardie Post Office, Warden’s Court, Hospital Camp, government [water] bore, Bayley’s Mine, a camel race, and an image titled View of Coolgardie from Mt Eva. Four images depict “dry blowing”, a form of gold-panning used in areas without access to water. One image depicts “‘Smiler’ (A.G. Hales), special mining reporter for the Standard, published at one penny every Saturday, Freeman St, Adelaide.” In 1892 gold was discovered in Coolgardie. Due to the harsh terrain, in 1898, camels were imported along with their Muslim Afghani handlers to transport goods. Coolgardie flourished until the early 1900s when the gold rush decreased.
Item #CL169-58
Price (AUD): $11,500.00 other currencies