A collection of 36 vintage photographs of Papua New Guinea, with the majority of them relating to Misima Island, a volcanic island in the north-west of the Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province
Original gelatin silver photographs (33 postcard-format, approximately 88 × 145 mm or the reverse, and three smaller prints that overlap to form a panoramic view of Block 10 Gold Mine on Misima Island (127 × 190 mm). The majority have inscriptions on the verso (see below); 11 have identifying captions, six have routine messages to family members. Only a handful appear to be commercially-produced postcards. Undated, but probably 1920s.
Minimal signs of age and use; overall, in excellent condition.
The majority of the photographs form a near-complete series bearing a manuscript number and the initials 'W.D.W' in ink on the verso. There are 30 items numbered 2-13, 15-24, 26-29, 32, and 34-36. We have established the initials are those of W.D. Wilson, a builder and contractor, and that he lived in suburban Adelaide (at Largs Bay in the 1920s and Semaphore in the 1930s). The messages are to four of his children (Rita, Florrie, Merle, and an unidentified boy: curiously, some of the names are scratched out of these messages); these tend to be on photographs taken in Rabaul. The subject matter and captions of some of the photographs suggest he may have been working on the island, possibly at Block 10 Misima Gold Mine at Umuna. The three-panel panorama and two other photographs feature the mine site, with its 'crushing mills, cyaniding vats, sawmill, black-smiths' and carpenters' shops, electric lighting, staff accommodation .. and ... tramway' (Hank Nelson: 'Black, White and Gold: Goldmining in Papua New Guinea, 1878-1930', ANU Press, 2016, now available online. Chapter 3, 'Misima: warlike and civilised' is most informative). Other captions relating to Misima Island include 'Three Awaikivas [Orokaivas]'; 'Native hut, Lappapai'; 'Ocean going Canoe with outrigger. Lappapai'; 'Shell hunting on the Coral. Lappapai'; and 'Bwagoia' (one of the main villages). [36 items].
Item #140780
Price (AUD):
$750.00