http://www.gaylereicheltart.com/blog/gayle-reichelt-paintings-in-exhibition-just-below-the-surface
Link to a slideshow of my work in current exhibition "Just Below the Surface" with artwork by Gayle Reichelt and Bronwyn Doherty.
At Petrie Terrace Gallery, 162 Petrie Terrace, Brsane. 4000. Exhibition dates from 12th - 24th October. Opening night Wednesday 14th October 2015 at 7pm for 7.30pm.
All work is for sale. If you are unable to get to the exhibition, work can be purchased online.
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| Underwater Anchor - Encaustic painting |
This anchor is likely to be one of two from a shipwreck called the Charles Eaton which is
situated on the Great Detached Reef in Far North Queensland. The Charles Eaton was
wrecked on 15th August 1834 but for more than a year, nothing was heard of her passengers
and crew. Gradually word started to spread in many and scattered countries that some were
still alive but in captivity as slaves. Two ships were commanded by the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty to ascertain the fate of the survivors and rescue them. Tigris was despatched
from Bombay and Isabella from Sydney in 1836. Following is an extract the story and fate
of the Charles Eaton and her passengers and crew.
The Wreck of the Charles Eaton (ref: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4443589 )
A CENTURY-OLD TRAGEDY -By "C. CORAL."
One of the saddest tragedies of the straits was the wreck of the Charles Eaton in 1834. She was a 313 ton barque
commanded by Captain G. F. Moore. She left Brisbane for Canton on July 29. A little more than a fortnight later
she was wrecked while trying to get through the reefs near the Charles Hardy group of islands, out from Cape
Grenville. In addition to the officers and crew therewere about a dozen passengers on board among whom were
Captain D'Oyley of the East India Company's Artillery, with his wife and two boys and a native Indian servant.
When the vessel crashed she fell broadside on. Two of the boats smashed, leaving only one, into which three
seamen jumped, with the carpenter and boatswain, but the captain and officers re-solved to stay on the ship as
they felt sure that the boat would have no chance. Soon the barque became a hopeless wreck.
The upper part held together, however, and there the greater number of the passengers and crew found foothold.
A raft was constructed; it was not very large and could carry only nine people, but upon it were placed Captain
D'Oyley and his family, with some other passengers and one or two officers. A week later another raft left the ship
carrying 17 persons, including the steward's boy, John Ireland and another boy named Sexton.
The Boy Survivors
For more than a year the fate of the Charles Eaton was unknown. Then there drifted to Sydney stories of the arrival
at Timor and Batavia of four of the men who had escaped in the boat. The captain of a ship passing trough Torres
Strait reported too, that he had seen a white boyon an island living with the natives. Immediately the Government
of New SouthWales fitted out rescue ship, the Isabella, in the hope that there might be survivors of the Charles
Eaton. The East India Company despatched the sloop Tigris on a similar errand. The two search vessels met at
Double Island, in Torres Strait, after the Isabella had successfully accomplished her mission and had recovered
two of the boys -- the only two survivors – from Murray Island. The mournful tale was then told.
The two boy's were John Ireland and William D'Oyley. What happened to the first raft that left the ship will never
be with certainty, for of its company of nine all were killed except the two D'Oyley boys. Probably it shared the fate
of the second raft. This, after being at sea for two days and nights, drifted among some of the small islands along
the east coast. A canoe was sighted in which a dozen or so natives could be seen. They seemed to be friendly
and the castaways were taken to an island in the vicinity.
Thoroughly exhausted, hungry, and without water, the unfortunate people lay down to sleep. Then the natives
clubbed them to death, and removed the heads of their victims, sparing only Ireland and Sexton, the two youngest.
Once more the canoe was launched, and, with their ghastly trophies and living captives, the islanders set sail for
their home in Torres Strait. Every year at the end of the North West monsoon the fierce and warlike islanders-then
generally known as "Indians"- of Murray and other Torres Strait islands made journeys 200 miles or more down the
coast in then canoes, trading and seeking heads and returning with the South East trades. Apparently this canoe
was one of a flotilla, for when it arrived at the island of Aureed other canoes had already preceeded it, among them
one carrying the two D'Oyley lads. Here the whole party remained for some weeks. A redistribution was made, one
canoe departing with Ireland and the two year old D'Oyley boy, the other taking Sexton and the elder brother. From
then on the boys of the second party were never traced, although the people of Darnley and neighbouring islands,
who have had the circumstances of the affair handed down to them by the old people, tell one that the four lads
were remembered as having been in the islands for some time and that two were taken away before the Isabella
rescued the survivors at Murray. The two lads of the first party, however were taken to Marsden Island, in the
central part of Torres Strait, and it was there that a Murray Islander and his wife saw them and, according to the
stories of the native rescued them in exchange for bunches of bananas. Their new owners treated them kindly; in
fact when the rescue ship came and ransomed the D'Oyley boy after having obtained the other survivors in
exchange for tomahawks, he did not want to part from his foster mother.
Tragic Relics
When the Isabella came down to Aureed with her two ransomed captives aboard, on the way back to Sydney, she
made a ghastly discovery. In a hut a large mask was discovered, shaped like a man's face and made of turtle shell.
These skillfully made figures were used formerly for religious rites by the Torres Strait islanders. Once a year the
people gathered at one of the chief islands to make their offerings of human heads at the "Feast of Augad-Au Ai"
(the feast of the Great God). Acts a propitiation were made, and the young men ate human flesh to make them
brave and strong in fight. Surrounding the large figure at Aureed, and lashed to it with rope evidently from some
ship, were about a score of skulls. Most of them bore marks of violence. They were taken on boardthe Isabella, and
in Sydney their European origin was certified. Almost certainly they were the skulls of the unfortunates of the rafts.
They were interred, and in St. James's Church Sydney, a memorial tablet tells part of the melancholy story.
To-day there are no people living on Aureed but the other islands of Torres Strait
situated on the Great Detached Reef in Far North Queensland. The Charles Eaton was
wrecked on 15th August 1834 but for more than a year, nothing was heard of her passengers
and crew. Gradually word started to spread in many and scattered countries that some were
still alive but in captivity as slaves. Two ships were commanded by the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty to ascertain the fate of the survivors and rescue them. Tigris was despatched
from Bombay and Isabella from Sydney in 1836. Following is an extract the story and fate
of the Charles Eaton and her passengers and crew.
The Wreck of the Charles Eaton (ref: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4443589 )
A CENTURY-OLD TRAGEDY -By "C. CORAL."
One of the saddest tragedies of the straits was the wreck of the Charles Eaton in 1834. She was a 313 ton barque
commanded by Captain G. F. Moore. She left Brisbane for Canton on July 29. A little more than a fortnight later
she was wrecked while trying to get through the reefs near the Charles Hardy group of islands, out from Cape
Grenville. In addition to the officers and crew therewere about a dozen passengers on board among whom were
Captain D'Oyley of the East India Company's Artillery, with his wife and two boys and a native Indian servant.
When the vessel crashed she fell broadside on. Two of the boats smashed, leaving only one, into which three
seamen jumped, with the carpenter and boatswain, but the captain and officers re-solved to stay on the ship as
they felt sure that the boat would have no chance. Soon the barque became a hopeless wreck.
The upper part held together, however, and there the greater number of the passengers and crew found foothold.
A raft was constructed; it was not very large and could carry only nine people, but upon it were placed Captain
D'Oyley and his family, with some other passengers and one or two officers. A week later another raft left the ship
carrying 17 persons, including the steward's boy, John Ireland and another boy named Sexton.
The Boy Survivors
For more than a year the fate of the Charles Eaton was unknown. Then there drifted to Sydney stories of the arrival
at Timor and Batavia of four of the men who had escaped in the boat. The captain of a ship passing trough Torres
Strait reported too, that he had seen a white boyon an island living with the natives. Immediately the Government
of New SouthWales fitted out rescue ship, the Isabella, in the hope that there might be survivors of the Charles
Eaton. The East India Company despatched the sloop Tigris on a similar errand. The two search vessels met at
Double Island, in Torres Strait, after the Isabella had successfully accomplished her mission and had recovered
two of the boys -- the only two survivors – from Murray Island. The mournful tale was then told.
The two boy's were John Ireland and William D'Oyley. What happened to the first raft that left the ship will never
be with certainty, for of its company of nine all were killed except the two D'Oyley boys. Probably it shared the fate
of the second raft. This, after being at sea for two days and nights, drifted among some of the small islands along
the east coast. A canoe was sighted in which a dozen or so natives could be seen. They seemed to be friendly
and the castaways were taken to an island in the vicinity.
Thoroughly exhausted, hungry, and without water, the unfortunate people lay down to sleep. Then the natives
clubbed them to death, and removed the heads of their victims, sparing only Ireland and Sexton, the two youngest.
Once more the canoe was launched, and, with their ghastly trophies and living captives, the islanders set sail for
their home in Torres Strait. Every year at the end of the North West monsoon the fierce and warlike islanders-then
generally known as "Indians"- of Murray and other Torres Strait islands made journeys 200 miles or more down the
coast in then canoes, trading and seeking heads and returning with the South East trades. Apparently this canoe
was one of a flotilla, for when it arrived at the island of Aureed other canoes had already preceeded it, among them
one carrying the two D'Oyley lads. Here the whole party remained for some weeks. A redistribution was made, one
canoe departing with Ireland and the two year old D'Oyley boy, the other taking Sexton and the elder brother. From
then on the boys of the second party were never traced, although the people of Darnley and neighbouring islands,
who have had the circumstances of the affair handed down to them by the old people, tell one that the four lads
were remembered as having been in the islands for some time and that two were taken away before the Isabella
rescued the survivors at Murray. The two lads of the first party, however were taken to Marsden Island, in the
central part of Torres Strait, and it was there that a Murray Islander and his wife saw them and, according to the
stories of the native rescued them in exchange for bunches of bananas. Their new owners treated them kindly; in
fact when the rescue ship came and ransomed the D'Oyley boy after having obtained the other survivors in
exchange for tomahawks, he did not want to part from his foster mother.
Tragic Relics
When the Isabella came down to Aureed with her two ransomed captives aboard, on the way back to Sydney, she
made a ghastly discovery. In a hut a large mask was discovered, shaped like a man's face and made of turtle shell.
These skillfully made figures were used formerly for religious rites by the Torres Strait islanders. Once a year the
people gathered at one of the chief islands to make their offerings of human heads at the "Feast of Augad-Au Ai"
(the feast of the Great God). Acts a propitiation were made, and the young men ate human flesh to make them
brave and strong in fight. Surrounding the large figure at Aureed, and lashed to it with rope evidently from some
ship, were about a score of skulls. Most of them bore marks of violence. They were taken on boardthe Isabella, and
in Sydney their European origin was certified. Almost certainly they were the skulls of the unfortunates of the rafts.
They were interred, and in St. James's Church Sydney, a memorial tablet tells part of the melancholy story.
To-day there are no people living on Aureed but the other islands of Torres Strait
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