.jpg?w=1)
Details
NED KELLY, PORTRAIT, OIL ON CANVAS, inscribed A correct likeness of the Bushranger, NED KELLY, the leader of the Kelly Gang, and his favourite GREY MARE, signed lower left.
Painted by H. MILES, Towitta, 50.5 x 63 cm, undated, circa 1880
The only known portrait of Ned Kelly, possibly executed shortly after his capture and before his death on 11 November 1880
The painter, H. Miles and property, Towitta, remain unidentified but the portrait is based on two engravings which appeared in the Australasian Sketcher soon after Ned Kelly's capture on 28 June 1880. The figure of Kelly is from a full-page portrait in the issue of 31 July 1880. It is unsigned but clearly the work of Thomas Carrington who drew Kelly's face from memory basing the body on a full-lenght photograph of Aaron Sherritt, former associate of the Kelly's, whose murder, on 26 June 1880, triggered the chain of events culminating in the Glenrowan siege. Police had supplied the Press with a photograph of Sherritt and Carrington copied his pose and clothing, altering a few details to match Kelly's apparel at Glenrowan.
Kelly's 'Favourite GREY MARE' is based on a Carrington drawing in the 17 July of the Sketcher, which commented 'A picture is given of the Grey Mare issue of Ned Kelly, to the strength and fastness of which the bushranger so much trusted.' Actually, this was Joe Byrne's mare, a remarkabe animal called Music. Byrne rode a less noticeable chestnut mare on Saturday, 26 June 1880, when he and Dan Kelly rode to the Woolside Valley near Beechworth, to kill Aaron Sherritt, supposed betrayer of the gang. Ned Kelly and Steve Hart took Music to Glenrowan. Kelly had been riding Music on previous occaisions, and soon after the siege of Glenrowan began in the fore-dawn of 28 June, he rode her to turn back Kelly supporters who had been summoned by mis-fired signal rockets. After the death of Joe Byrne, Kelly returned to the Glenrowan Inn at sunrise and, although badly wounded, attacked 34 police in an attempt to rescue the two surviving members of the gang, his brother Dan and Steve Hart.
Music followed Kelly in the early stages of the gunfight and, when he sank to his knees in the shelter of some timber, she came towards him, saddled and bridled, as though inviting him to escape. Dr Nicholson of Benalla commented 'We finally expected to see him make a rush and mount it, but he allowed it to pass.' As Music moved away, Constable Moore fired twice and she fell. Yet minutes later, when Kelly had left cover and Sergeant Steele was closing in to shoot the bushranger in his unprotected legs, Music regained her feet and plunged between the two men. She then vanished from the battlefield, probably spirited away by some of the Kelly supporters, to re-appear in the 'Kelly Show' which Kate and Jim Kelly took to Sydney after their brother's execution.
Arguably, Music, rather than Ned Kelly, was the prime inspiration for Miles' painting, and ironically, with his naive skill, he improves on Carrington's original, bringing out the dappling only hinted at in the Sketcher engraving, and giving Music classic Arab lines.
It seems most likely that Carrington's drawings were the only direct source for Miles' work, but it is impossible to ignore the possibility that he actually saw Music at the Kelly show. Certainly, he has produced an image worthy of the animal that has deservedly passed into legend as 'Ned Kelly's grey mare.'
Painted by H. MILES, Towitta, 50.5 x 63 cm, undated, circa 1880
The only known portrait of Ned Kelly, possibly executed shortly after his capture and before his death on 11 November 1880
The painter, H. Miles and property, Towitta, remain unidentified but the portrait is based on two engravings which appeared in the Australasian Sketcher soon after Ned Kelly's capture on 28 June 1880. The figure of Kelly is from a full-page portrait in the issue of 31 July 1880. It is unsigned but clearly the work of Thomas Carrington who drew Kelly's face from memory basing the body on a full-lenght photograph of Aaron Sherritt, former associate of the Kelly's, whose murder, on 26 June 1880, triggered the chain of events culminating in the Glenrowan siege. Police had supplied the Press with a photograph of Sherritt and Carrington copied his pose and clothing, altering a few details to match Kelly's apparel at Glenrowan.
Kelly's 'Favourite GREY MARE' is based on a Carrington drawing in the 17 July of the Sketcher, which commented 'A picture is given of the Grey Mare issue of Ned Kelly, to the strength and fastness of which the bushranger so much trusted.' Actually, this was Joe Byrne's mare, a remarkabe animal called Music. Byrne rode a less noticeable chestnut mare on Saturday, 26 June 1880, when he and Dan Kelly rode to the Woolside Valley near Beechworth, to kill Aaron Sherritt, supposed betrayer of the gang. Ned Kelly and Steve Hart took Music to Glenrowan. Kelly had been riding Music on previous occaisions, and soon after the siege of Glenrowan began in the fore-dawn of 28 June, he rode her to turn back Kelly supporters who had been summoned by mis-fired signal rockets. After the death of Joe Byrne, Kelly returned to the Glenrowan Inn at sunrise and, although badly wounded, attacked 34 police in an attempt to rescue the two surviving members of the gang, his brother Dan and Steve Hart.
Music followed Kelly in the early stages of the gunfight and, when he sank to his knees in the shelter of some timber, she came towards him, saddled and bridled, as though inviting him to escape. Dr Nicholson of Benalla commented 'We finally expected to see him make a rush and mount it, but he allowed it to pass.' As Music moved away, Constable Moore fired twice and she fell. Yet minutes later, when Kelly had left cover and Sergeant Steele was closing in to shoot the bushranger in his unprotected legs, Music regained her feet and plunged between the two men. She then vanished from the battlefield, probably spirited away by some of the Kelly supporters, to re-appear in the 'Kelly Show' which Kate and Jim Kelly took to Sydney after their brother's execution.
Arguably, Music, rather than Ned Kelly, was the prime inspiration for Miles' painting, and ironically, with his naive skill, he improves on Carrington's original, bringing out the dappling only hinted at in the Sketcher engraving, and giving Music classic Arab lines.
It seems most likely that Carrington's drawings were the only direct source for Miles' work, but it is impossible to ignore the possibility that he actually saw Music at the Kelly show. Certainly, he has produced an image worthy of the animal that has deservedly passed into legend as 'Ned Kelly's grey mare.'
Special notice
A 10% Goods and Services tax (G.S.T) will be charged on the Buyer's Premium on all lots in this sale.