Collection
Tom Roberts
(England, Australia 08 Mar 1856–14 Sep 1931)
- Title
- A Chinese cook shop
- Other titles:
- The opium den
- Year
- (circa 1887)
- Media category
- Materials used
- etching, printed in dark brown ink with plate tone on ivory wove paper
- Dimensions
-
20.4 x 15.2cm platemark; 32.1 x 20.5cm sheet
- Signature & date
- Signed l.l., pencil "Tom Roberts.". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1978
- Accession number
- 33.1978
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
'The Chinese cook shop' was first exhibited in Melbourne in October 1887 at the Australian Artists' Association exhibition. Roberts planned to have it professionally editioned in London. It was exhibited again in Sydney in 1921 at the Australian Painter-Etchers Society's first exhibition, re-titled 'The opium den'. The plate was found in the studio of etcher Cyril Dillon, who printed proofs in 1920 when Roberts was visiting Australia.
Hendrik Kolenberg and Anne Ryan, Australian prints from the Gallery's collection, AGNSW, 1998
- Bibliography (5)
-
Roger Butler, Printed images by Australian artists 1885-1955, Canberra, 2007, 9, 10 (colour illus.). Collection of National Gallery of Australia
Nicolas Draffin, Three years on: a selection of acquisitions 1978-1981 1981, 'Prints and Drawings - Australia, European and American', pg. 47-66, Sydney, 1981, 49, 66 (illus.). cat.no. 43
Hendrik Kolenberg and Anne Ryan, Australian prints from the Gallery's collection 1998, Sydney, 1998, 28 (illus.). cat.no. 28
Hendrik Kolenberg, Everyday life: prints drawings and watercolours from the collections of Australian and European art 1994, Sydney, 1994. cat.no. 71
Anne Ryan, Australian etchings and engravings 1880s–1930s from the Gallery's collection 2007, Domain, 2007, 15 (colour illus.). cat.no. 18
- Exhibition history (3)
-
Everyday Life, prints, drawings and watercolours from the collections of Australian and European Art:
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 01 Oct 1994–27 Nov 1994
- Goulburn Regional Art Gallery 04 Mar 1995–01 Apr 1995
- Griffith Regional Art Gallery 03 May 1995–03 Jun 1995
- Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery, Australia 22 Jun 1995–30 Jul 1995
Australian prints from the Gallery's collection (1998-1999), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Nov 1998–07 Feb 1999
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
