Hobart Town, looking south [and] Hobart Town, from the harbour. A pair of two-part panoramas, 1876-1881.

Two photographic panoramas mounted on three leaves removed from a mid-19th century album. Approximate dating based on the fact that in one of the prints the lantern tower is missing from St. Mary’s Cathedral (the tower was removed in 1876 and the cathedral was closed until 1881).

I. Hobart Town looking south / Tasmania. [View of Hobart from Lime Kiln Hill]. Two albumen print photographs, in identical format 180 x 210 mm; the first (the left-hand half of the panorama) is mounted verso of leaf [2], and the second (the right-hand half of the panorama) is mounted recto of leaf [3]; both views are taken from the same vantage point, and together provide an almost uninterrupted 180-degree view. Mounts with captions in ink repeated beneath each image.

II. Hobart Town from harbour. [View of Hobart looking northwest towards Salamanca Wharf]. Two albumen print photographs, in identical format 180 x 210 mm; the first (the left-hand half of the panorama) is mounted recto of leaf [2], and the second (the right-hand half of the panorama) is mounted verso of leaf [1]; these views are contiguous and form a panoramic view of the Hobart foreshore, with ships riding at anchor. Mounts with captions in ink repeated beneath each image.

Condition: All four prints are strong images with excellent tonal range, in good condition with a tolerable amount of light wrinkling and some edge fading. They are mounted at each corner with the original album compiler’s strips of double-sided tape (1870s date); they could be removed from the album pages relatively easily by a conservator.

These photographs would have been acquired by an overseas visitor to Tasmania from a single source – perhaps a Hobart bookshop or picture framer – and the fact that they have a uniform format and similar print quality is further evidence that points to one photographer being responsible for both panoramas: probably one of Samuel Clifford, Thomas Nevin or Alfred Winter.