Item PZ 6.2 Watercolour illustration - Trigla kumu, The Kumu Gurnard, by Arthur Bartholomew

Summary

Watercolour illustration of a Red Gurnard, Chelidonichthys kumu, by Arthur Bartholomew. This work was commissioned by Frederick McCoy, the first Director of The National Museum of Victoria, for Plate 6 in 'The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria; Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victoria indigenous animals'. The illustration was based on a specimen collected in Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip, in August 1864, referred to by McCoy as Trigla kumu, The Kumu Gurnard.

Bartholomew's illustration forms part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations and prints in the collection informed the production of The Prodromus, the first major publication of the National Museum of Victoria. Between 1878 and 1890, McCoy published his zoology 'Prodromus' as 20 parts in two volumes, with each part comprising 20 plates. Unfortunately, almost 90 plates in the collection remain unpublished, and hundreds of illustrations were either not completed or not printed.