An opossum of Van Diemen's Land
Primary Artist
Peter Mazell (1733–1808)
Title
An opossum of Van Diemen's Land
Source
Cook, James and King, James. 'A voyage to the Pacific Ocean... for making discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. London: Printed by W. & A. Strahan for G. Nicol & T. Codell, 1784
Page or Plate number
plate 8
Date made
1784
Place made
Europe, England, Greater London, London View on map Close map
Category
Print type
intaglio
Technique
engraving, printed in black ink, from one copper plate
Text printed from matrix
printed upper right above image, '8'.
printed lower left below image, ‘J. Webber del.'.
printed signature lower right below image w, 'P. Mazell sculp.'.
printed lower centre below image, 'An OPOSSUM of VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.'.
Matrix size
15.0 x 24.0 m (printed image); 17.5 x 24.0 cm (printed image and text); 21.6 x 27.0 cm (plate-mark)
Support
thin smooth cream laid paper
Support size
37.8 x 52.4 cm (sheet)
Manufacturers mark
watermark indecipherable
State
published state
Impression
undesignated impression as issued
Edition information
print run unknown
Inscriptions or device by artist or designated agent
no inscriptions.
Collection
National Gallery of Australia
IRN
213844
Accession number
2011.1214
Accession method
Gift
Meeting
Meeting 4, 2010/2011 (2011-02-22)
Provenance
Gift to the National Gallery of Australia, from Ted and Gina Gregg, Sydney, February 2011.
Credit line
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg, 2010
Subject categories
Voyages of exploration and discovery 1600-1900: English | Australia, Art period: Colonial, Tasmania | Australia, Animal: Possum
Creators
Mazell, Peter. | (1733–1808) Irish | Male | engraver
Webber, John. | (1751–1793) English | Male | print after
Last Updated
11 Oct 2025