sketcher, was born in Brookstead, near Avoca, Van Diemen’s Land, on 8 April 1835, second of the four children of Robert Cowie and Julia, née Luthman. Her father, her elder sister (another Julia ) and her aunts, Emma von Stieglitz , Georgiana Oakden and Jane Cowie , were all sketchers or painters, an interest obviously encouraged in the family circle.
On 28 May 1854 Emily Cowie became the second wife of Edwin Bowring, overseer on the Archer property Panshanger at Longford, who also leased the nearby property, Brambletye. Emily Bowring drew many views of Panshanger while her husband was managing it in 1853-55, and she made equally competent large pencil drawings of their own property at the same time. In 1863-64 the Bowrings were on Lyne Station, near Branxholme, Victoria, resulting in further sketches from Emily: Trap Scoria, Lyne (1864) is an example. After leaving Lyne the Bowrings apparently lived in Britain, spending some time in Ireland with Emily’s sister Mary and her husband, Charles Nichols.
Bowring’s known and attributed pencil and watercolour drawings are mainly of places where she lived or visited. Most depict homesteads or their surrounding landscapes. Her view of Corra Linn , exhibited at the 1887 Hobart Fine Arts Exhibition by Colonel Tegge, was 'an excellent piece of colouring’, according to the Mercury , 'though it might be considered too warm by those who have not yet seen the picturesque gaze in its highest splendour’. Scenes of outdoor activities, such as Sheep-Washing at the Bridge, Panshanger and Kangaroo Hunting , were included in one of her large sketchbooks, along with botanical studies of grasses, flowers and leaves. The latter are mostly by her sister Julia, although Emily also painted flowers. The outdoor scenes were all attributed to her by K.R. von Stieglitz, despite some being rather different in character to her known views.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
