Ethel A. King

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Ethel A. King
Born
Ethel Anna King

1879
Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
Died1 January 1939(1939-01-01) (aged 59–60)
Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Known forScientific illustration
Notable work137 drawings for Snakes of Australia

Ethel Anna King (1879 – 1 January 1939) was an Australian scientific illustrator of snakes, fish and botany.

Biography[edit]

Born in Lismore in 1879, King moved to Sydney to study painting and drawing with Julian Ashton and Dattilo Rubbo.[1][2] In 1922 she was appointed assistant to Margaret Flockton, artist working for Joseph Maiden, director of the Botanical Gardens in Sydney to illustrate his work.[3][4]

Many examples of her work are held in the Australian Museum, where she worked on commission in the 1920s and 30s.[5]

In 1925 she was commissioned to prepare fish exhibits for display at the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, including a 250 lb (113.4 kg) Giant groper (Epinephelus lanceolatus).[6]

She contributed illustrations to the first edition of the Australian Encyclopedia[4] and made 137 colour illustrations for J. R. Kinghorn's Snakes of Australia, which were described by David G. Stead, President of the Naturalists' Society of New South Wales as "render[ing] the work quite unique and absolutely invaluable to naturalist and bushman alike, as with their aid it is easily possible to identify every species".[7]

A colour plate she created for Charles Barrett's Australian Animals (1932) was described as "one of the finest illustrations of its kind yet published in this country" by The Melbourne Herald.[8]

Shortly before her death she was appointed to serve as anatomical artist at the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra.[1]

Works[edit]

Reference books[edit]

  • Froggatt, Walter W. (1927). Forest Insects and Timber Borers. Illustrated by E. A. King. Sydney, New South Wales: A. J. Kent, Government Printer.
  • Kinghorn, J. R. (1929). Snakes of Australia. Illustrated by E. A. King. Sydney, Australia: Angus & Robertson.

Children's books[edit]

  • Honey, W. H. (1934). Bush Creatures. Illustrated by E. A. King. Sydney, New South Wales: W. H. Honey Publishing Co.
  • Higgins, Kathleen (1937). Betty in Bushland. Illustrated by Pixie O'Harris and E. A. King. Sydney, New South Wales: Angus & Robertson.

Death[edit]

King died on 1 January 1939 at a private hospital in Darlinghurst, New South Wales[9] and was cremated.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Obituary". The Northern Star. New South Wales, Australia. 11 January 1939. p. 9. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "A Lismore Artist". The Northern Star. Vol. 51. New South Wales, Australia. 4 December 1926. p. 16. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Art and Botany". The Sun. No. 979. New South Wales, Australia. 1 January 1922. p. 18. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b "Miss E A King". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 528. New South Wales, Australia. 18 January 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Leeson, Alison (23 October 2013). "Ethel King – Painter of all things natural". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  6. ^ Egan, Patricia (9 January 2014). "A Fishy Tale from 1926". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  7. ^ Stead, David G. (25 December 1929). "A Study of Australian Snakes". The Sydney Mail. Vol. XXXVI, no. 926. New South Wales, Australia. p. 16. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Our Animals". The Herald. No. 17, 263. Victoria, Australia. 12 September 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 514. New South Wales, Australia. 2 January 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 515. New South Wales, Australia. 3 January 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

External links[edit]

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