GA025 - Property from the Private Collection of Trevor Kennedy AM

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A carved kerosene shale portrait bust by John Baird,
Sydney, circa 1885
reputedly an image of John Baird’s son, Lignite
48cm high
PROVENANCE
John Hawkins Antiques, Tasmania
NOTE
John Baird (1834-1894) was an amateur sculptor who
was a postman in Sydney. He worked in kerosene shale,
an unusual material for sculpture, which was mined on
the North Shore and at Hartley and although he did not
exhibit his work during his lifetime it was the subject of
an article in the ‘Illustrated Sydney News’ in 1886 titled
Carvings in Shale- a Sydney Postman’s Discovery. He
specialised in animals, medallions of notable people,
and members of his family. The bust of Jane, his wife, is
in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.
$10,000–15,000
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