Lot 37: Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

John Peter Cederberg (1823-1898)
Port Phillip Bay, Victoria
signed and dated 'J.P. Cederberg 1886' (lower right)
oil on board
11 x 15¾in. (28.9 x 40cm.)

Private collection, Sweden.

Cederburg, of Swedish origin, was a printmaker and artist resident in Melbourne from 1862. His work was included in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London in 1886 (presumably engravings in the Illustrated Handbook of Victoria ). There is one picture by Cederburg in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm ( Midvinter in Australien , 1884).
The first influx of Swedes into Victoria came with the gold rush in the 1850s. It has been estimated that 1,500 Swedes lived in Victoria between 1857 and 1859. Based in the goldfields of Ballarat, Bendigo and McIvor, many Swedish-born immigrants eventually sought work on the land. Others settled in Melbourne as craftsmen and builders. The Swedish Club was formed in Melbourne in 1887.