A Set of Boxes for Mr Gould - 2005

Blackwood, eucalypt, brass, laminate, webbing

800w 400d 920h

John Gould was born in England in 1804. As a child he collected and sold bird eggs and bird specimens and as an adult set up his own taxidermy business in London in 1824.

Mr Gould is perhaps best known for his folio sets of hand coloured lithographs of birds. His wife, Elizabeth, a talented artist painted many of the watercolours for the lithographs.

When the Goulds began working on The Birds of Australia, it became apparent to Mr Gould that he would need to travel to Australia to obtain both specimens and first hand knowledge of the habitat and behaviour of the birds.

The Goulds and their entourage arrived in Hobart in September 1838. Mr Gould quickly set to work, collecting, classifying and describing the birds in Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia whilst Elizabeth worked in Hobart on the illustrations for the book. They left Tasmania in August 1839, travelling to Sydney before finally leaving Australia in April 1840.

This set of collecting boxes for are designed to be used singly or in sets in the field, but they could also be arrangeded to form a display cabinet for the preserved specimens.