'Sergeants Freehold Quartz Gold Mining Company's claim, Redan, Ballarat', 1881

Description

This is a pen, ink and watercolour drawing, measuring 43.5 cm x 55 cm, of Sergeants Freehold Quartz Gold Mining Company's claim at Redan, Ballarat. It was drawn in 1881 by T G Moyle, a gold fields artist working in the 1880s and 1890s. Extensive mine buildings are spread over a wide area, but dwarfed by a huge pile of quartz. Buildings are situated above and below a steep cliff in order to utilise gravity to help shift the quartz. Smoking chimneys attest to the use of steam power to drive machinery such as quartz crushers. The mine head frame, complete with flag, can be seen beyond the tip of the quartz pile. The artist has painted dark, glowering clouds, suggesting pollution from the smokestacks of the factory.

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