Contact sheet with fifteen portraits of Aboriginal men from New South Wales and Queensland, 1888-1895.

Albumen print, 145 x 190 mm; each of the fifteen portraits is numbered and captioned in the negative, with vertical imprint of ‘Kerry’s Studios, 310 George St., near Hunter St., Sydney.’; in very good condition.

A composite of fifteen portraits produced by Kerry from his own standard format albumen prints. Kerry used this form of contact sheet to create a convenient reference catalogue of his Aboriginal portraits, from which his clients could select images to purchase.

Another print of this particular sheet is reproduced in Portraits of Oceania (Sydney : AGNSW, 1997, plate 67). The sitters are all men from New South Wales or Queensland language groups:

136-137. Melandiga, warrior, Clarence River, NSW; 138-139. Aboriginal warrior, Namoi River, NSW; 140. Aboriginal warrior, Mary River, Queensland; 141. Burrabadah, warrior, Twofold Bay, NSW; 142. Aboriginal warrior, Snowy Mountains, NSW; 143. Whrangoo, warrior, Tenterfield tribe, NSW; 144. Graamoni, warrior, Cootamundra tribe, NSW; 145. Aboriginal warrior, Boogoolmurra tribe, Queensland; 146. Warryne, warrior, Yass tribe, NSW; 147. Aboriginal warrior, South Coast, NSW; 148. Aboriginal warrior, Gilbert River, Queensland; 149. Aboriginal warrior, Boogoolmurra tribe, Queensland; 150. Geedah, King, Prince of Wales Island, Queensland (attributed to Henry King, a number of whose glass negatives of Aboriginal subjects are known to have been acquired by Kerry).