Design and Art Australia Online

sketchers and flower painters, were daughters of John Thacker of Berkshire who established the successful Sydney firm of Thacker, Mason & Company, merchants. They came to Sydney from London in the Kelso with their parents and two other sisters, Ann and Eliza, arriving on 6 May 1842. The Mitchell Library holds two volumes of finely detailed botanical watercolours on rice paper painted by the Thacker sisters. With the exception of the Blue Water Lily , all are believed to have been drawn before 1853 from native flowers in the Sydney area. Stylistically they are extremely similar and can be attributed to individuals only by the initials that appear in the lower right-hand corner of each page. The majority are by Margaret and Maria, who gave the volumes to their niece, Frances Hamilton, in 1895. Some appear to be initialled 'I.F.T.’ (Isabelle) or 'J.F.T.’ (Jane). Jane drew the competent pencil Their House, Sydney (National Library of Australia [NLA]) and Margaret painted sepia wash views (Mitchell Library). A wash drawing captioned 'The residence of Edward and Annie Hamilton’ (NLA) is annotated as having being sketched by Maria and finished by Jane.

Two volumes of well-executed views of New South Wales by Margaret and Maria, done in pencil, ink and wash or sepia watercolour (c.1850-53), are also in the Mitchell Library with some photographs of their drawings included in the first volume. Several watercolours depict views of the property Collaroy, near Cassilis, New South Wales, managed between 1839 and 1855 by Ann Thacker’s husband, Edward William Terrick Hamilton (subsequently chancellor of Sydney University and first agent-general for New South Wales) and his brother Captain H.G. Hamilton. Views of Sydney include Cliff near the South Head, Port Jackson (sepia watercolour) and View from Lighthouse, Sydney (sepia watercolour and pen). Two views of Newcastle in ink and wash – Newcastle Cathedral (9 December 1850) and Newcastle (December 1850) – and a view of Liverpool Range (1849) are the only dated works in the volumes. None is signed.

The Thacker sisters studied with Conrad Martens in 1846-47. On 16 October 1846 Martens noted in his account book that he had received £16.10s for drawing lessons from 'the Misses Thacker’ for three months, a sum that would have covered five individual students. Since he gave discounts for groups, it is likely that all six sisters learned from him. On 8 January 1847, however, Martens noted that only two of the Misses Thacker were taking lessons the following quarter, presumably Margaret and Maria, the most artistically prolific.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated: