POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Glass plate negative of Norddeutscher Lloyd ocean liner 'Prinz-Regent Luitpold' departing Sydney Harbour, c.1900

Object No. 85/1285-29

This image from a glass plate negative entitled 'S.S. Prinz-Regent Luitpold' was produced around 1900 and shows the Norddeutscher Lloyd ocean liner 'Prinz-Regent Luitpold' departing Sydney Cove. She is shown having just left Wharf 4 on the western side of Circular Quay outbound, passing another liner at Wharf 2 on the eastern side. Owned and operated by NDL (Norddeutscher Lloyd) of Germany, this 6000 tonne liner was one of a large fleet of NDL ships that worked worldwide. 'Prinz-Regent Luitpold was built in 1894 and is shown with a white hull which seems to have been specially painted for voyages to Australia. Other images show her with the conventional black hull. She was modernised in 1910 and was taken over by Italy in 1915. Graeme Andrews OAM, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences volunteer under the supervision of Margaret Simpson, Curator, October 2015 This photographic negative was taken by the Sydney based photographer Henry King. It is part of a collection of over 1300 glass plates taken between 1880 and 1917, although most appear to have been made in the late 1880s and 1890s. King was one of the Colony's most significant early photographers and although born in England around 1855 grew up in Sydney. He found work with the well-known Sydney photographer J. Hubert Newman and in 1880 established a studio in partnership with William Slade. Four years later he was sole proprietor. King quickly established a reputation for himself due to the high quality of his finished work. While King's income, like many other photographers, was dependent on portraiture he, like Kerry, is best known for his outdoor work. These views, particularly his city views, are justifiably praised and seem more carefully framed and printed than Kerry's. Outdoor views of Sydney make up the main bulk of King's work in the collection although, like Kerry, he took a series of photographs of the Jenolan Caves using magnesium flares. Henry King died aged 68 in Waverley War Memorial Hospital on 22 May 1923 following abdominal surgery. Geoff Barker, Curatorial, December, 2008 References King, Richard, Australian Dictionary of Biography - Online Edition Josef Lebovic, Henry King, 1855 - 1923, auction catalogue, Josef Lebovic Gallery, Paddington, Australia, date unknown Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988