The earliest known painting of a cricket match in Tasmania has returned to the state and is now on public display in Hobart.
Titled All England XI v XXII of Tasmania, Hobart, February 1862, the work has been bought by the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts at the State Library and Archives of Tasmania. It will be on show there until May 31 next year.
The library said the painting is the only surviving visual record of the first cricket match between England and Tasmania. The game was played at the Government Paddock on the Domain in February 1862, during the first English cricket tour of Australia.
The artist is unknown.
The painting shows 22 amateur players from Hobart and Launceston taking on the touring English professionals. The Hobart players wore crimson, while the Launceston players and the English side wore white.
Tasmania lost the match by four wickets.
The painting was held by the Mitchell family for generations. It was then sold through Sotheby’s Australia and spent time in a British private collection.
State Library and Archives of Tasmania librarian Caitlin Sutton oversaw its return.
“This painting has an extraordinary story,” she said. “It sat in a private Tasmanian collection for decades, completely unknown to the cricketing world. After 20 years overseas, it has now returned home to Tasmania as an important piece of our state’s history.”
Sutton said there had been “a great deal of curiosity” about where the painting would end up.
The purchase was funded by the privately funded Allport bequest.
David Harper, chair of the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts Management Committee, said the painting was “a fascinating insight into Tasmania’s sporting and cultural past and is a work of considerable artistic merit”.
“This painting will now be preserved within Tasmania’s public collection for future generations to enjoy,” he said.
Sports commentator Warwick Hadfield and Sutton will speak about the painting at the State Library at 6pm on Tuesday ,November 17, the night before the One Day International between England and Australia at Ninja Stadium in Bellerive.
The event is free, but bookings are required through Eventbrite.
