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Lot Essay
Cummins House (named after John Morphett's mother's family home at Ide in Devon) in Morphettville was built as a five-room brick cottage to the plans of his friend the deputy-surveyor and architect George Kingston. It was completed in 1842, and was considerably extended in 1854. It was home to Morphett and his heirs until it was purchased by the South Australian State Government in 1977. It stands today on Sheoak Avenue in Novar Gardens.
Skipper emigrated to the new colony of South Australia in 1836, articled to the advocate-general Charles Mann. An enthusistic amateur sketcher, he is remembered for 'portraying with spontaneity and skill the day-to-day events of his fellow colonists and for acutely observing the flora and fauna of South Australia.' (J. Kerr (ed.), Dictionary of Australian Artists ... to 1870, Melbourne, 1993, pp.729-80.) Most of his extant work describing the scenery of South Australia is on a smaller scale than this larger watercolour, this latter presumably a commission from John Morphett, one of the founding fathers of the new colony.
Skipper emigrated to the new colony of South Australia in 1836, articled to the advocate-general Charles Mann. An enthusistic amateur sketcher, he is remembered for 'portraying with spontaneity and skill the day-to-day events of his fellow colonists and for acutely observing the flora and fauna of South Australia.' (J. Kerr (ed.), Dictionary of Australian Artists ... to 1870, Melbourne, 1993, pp.729-80.) Most of his extant work describing the scenery of South Australia is on a smaller scale than this larger watercolour, this latter presumably a commission from John Morphett, one of the founding fathers of the new colony.