Indigenous Australians feasting on a beached whale, c1817

Description

This is a watercolour, measuring 17.7 cm x 27.9 cm, created by Joseph Lycett in about 1817. It depicts Indigenous Australian people on the New South Wales coast near the mouth of the Hunter River at Nobby's Head. There is a sailing ship on the horizon and nine people are on the beach, some looking on while two kneel beside a beached whale. A man and a woman with a baby on her back walk from the beach towards eight adults and a child who are grouped around two fires. Several people have meat in their hands and two are holding the meat close to the fires. The men on the beach who are standing carry spears, and one of the women holds a basket.

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