Lot 637: A KEROSENE SHALE CARVED RELIEF MEDALLION OF DR VAUGHAN BY JOHN BAIRD, (Born 1843)

titled, signed with initials and dated 1883 to verso. The Clergyman shown looking to the left in profile, bust lenght wearing a soutane and pectoral cross, brass suspension ring 15.5 cm (6 in.) diameter See illustration NOTES John Baird (1843-1894), a postal worker and self-taught Sydney artist, who began carving kerosene shale after the untimely death of his seven year old son in 1880. Lacking a portrait or drawing of his son, Baird endeavoured to make a carved portrait of his own. It is certain that Baird considered materials such as wood and clay, yet finally settled on shale, which was inexpensive and easy to come by at the time. Whilst coal, a similar material to shale, was used in 19th England to create ornaments, the use of shale for such purposes is very unusual. Baird's works were generally small plaques, which were easy to fashion and usually depicted members of his family, as well as religious, political, sporting figures and internationally known identities. The Most Reverend Roger William Bede Vaughan, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney and author, was born in Ross, Herefordshire, England in 1834 to a prominent and wealthy family with a tradition of leadership in the Catholic Church. Vaughan began his illustrious career in 1853, when he was accepted in to the Benedictine Order and took the name Brother Bede. In 1855 his father sent him to Rome to further his studies and four years later in 1859 he was ordained a priest. In 1861 he took the position of Professor of Philosophy at Belmont near Hereford and served as Cathedral Prior from 1862-1873. It was during this time that he wrote The Life and Labours of St. Thomas of Aquinus in two volumes. Although reluctant and somewhat unhappy with his position at Belmont, Vaughan accepted an appointment as Coadjutor-Archbishop of Sydney in 1873. Once in his position in Sydney, Vaughan found that his ideas on running the Church clashed with those of Archbishop Polding's and promptly set out to make changes. It was only in 1877 upon Polding's death that Vaughan succeeded as Archbishop of Sydney. During his time as Archbishop, Vaughan defended Catholic rights and created an education system which was strengthened by sound financial administration and good religious teachers so that between 1873-83 the number of schools and pupils in Sydney more than doubled. Vaughan's relentless work eventually became a physical strain, which saw his health rapidly deteriorate, and whilst stopping at Liverpool, England, on his way to recruit teachers in Rome in 1883, he died suddenly in his sleep. He was buried at Belmont but was later re-interred in the crypt of St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney in 1946.