Terms and conditions of use
Caleb
(1907); cast (1973)
- Medium
- bronze
- Measurements
- 46.6 × 18.5 × 22.0 cm
- Edition
- ed. 1/2
- Accession Number
- S2-1983
- Department
- Australian Sculpture
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Dr Joseph Brown OBE, 1983 - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
Artist Tom Roberts met former art student Elizabeth (Lillie) Williamson in 1880, and they married in 1896. Two years later the pair had a son, Caleb. When Caleb was five years old, the family journeyed to London where Roberts continued working on ‘The Big Picture’, an epic painting recording the opening of Australia’s first Parliament in 1901. Produced during the couple’s years in London, this bust shows Caleb around the age of eleven.
As an adult, Caleb remained in London where he studied at St Paul’s and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He later became a civil engineer and army officer, serving in Palestine and the Western Front during the First World War.