'First grave at Challicum, 1847'

Description

This is a watercolour measuring 12.8 cm x 16.6 cm showing a grave and headstone beside an old gum tree and five smaller trees, with a post-and-rail fence behind. Distant blue hills in the background are the Challicum Hills in Victoria. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting as the twentieth watercolour in his field sketchbook and inscribed the title 'First grave at Challicum, 1847' on the mount. Cooper also transcribed the epitaph onto the mount - 'In Memory of / Titus William Aspinall / Who was drowned in the Creek / Near this spot, Feb 20, 1847 aged 3 years. / A little Child, his Mothers Dear, / Now rests in Peace with Angels near'.

Acknowledgements