Old Spirit of the Sea

Date2006

Maker Laurel Nannup Australian, born 1943

Label Text"The Duyfken in 1606 was the first ship to sail to what is now called Australia. Commander Willem Janszoon sailed down south of the west coast of Cape York for 200 miles. The sailors' first encounter with the Aboriginal people was not friendly, the crew was attached and being short of supplies Janszoon decided to turn back. One could only guess what the Aboriginals thought when they saw the big white sails of the Duyfken; the sails would have looked like a big white bird, and the sailors, being white, would have made the Aboriginal people think it was their ancestors' spirits coming back from the dead." -- Laurel Nannup

Object number2007.81.7

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Credit LineGift of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

DimensionsImage: 23 5/8 x 15 3/4 in. (60 x 40 cm) Sheet: 29 15/16 x 22 1/16 in. (76 x 56 cm)

MediumLift-ground aquatint and spit-bite etching in two colors with hand coloring, printed from two copper plates