Illustrations of history

These sketches recently came up for auction – very interesting indeed. Clearly the artist was in Macao and possibly near Canton, in or around the time of the First Opium War (1839-1842) – certainly, as Captain John Spencer Churchill died at Macao in 1840 these sketches are slightly later. The sketch of the attack on Canton in 1840 suggests the artist was with the Navy in China – perhaps HMS Volage or HMS Hyacinth. Sadly though they remain unattributed.

John Alloo's Chinese restaurant, Ballarat

John Alloo's Chinese restaurant main road Ballaarat, 1855, lithograph, State Library Victoria

In contrast to the vitriol directed at ‘Celestials’ in contemporary written sources, Gill's print of John Alloo's Chinese restaurant is a scene of bustling activity and apparent racial harmony. John Alloo came to Australia in 1844, before the 1850s gold rush, and established his restaurant in the early days of the Ballarat township. The sign advertising 'soups always ready' and the depiction of canisters suggest that this was perhaps the earliest Chinese takeaway restaurant in Victoria.

https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/galleries/australian-sketchbook-st-gill