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Ethel Anna King (1879 – 1 January 1939) was an Australian scientific illustrator of snakes, fish and botany.

Biography

Born in Lismore in 1879, King moved to Sydney to study painting and drawing with Julian Ashton and Dattilo Rubbo. In 1922 she was appointed assistant to Margaret Flockton, artist working for Joseph Maiden, director of the Botanical Gardens in Sydney to illustrate his work.

Many examples of her work are held in the Australian Museum, where she worked on commission in the 1920s and 30s.

In 1925 she was commissioned to prepare fish exhibits for display at the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, including a 250 lb (113.4 kg) Giant groper (Epinephelus lanceolatus).

She contributed illustrations to the first edition of the Australian Encyclopedia and made 137 colour illustrations for J. R. Kinghorn's Snakes of Australia, which were described by David G. Stead, President of the Naturalists' Society of New South Wales as "render the work quite unique and absolutely invaluable to naturalist and bushman alike, as with their aid it is easily possible to identify every species".

A colour plate she created for Charles Barrett's Australian Animals (1932) was described as "one of the finest illustrations of its kind yet published in this country" by The Melbourne Herald.

Shortly before her death she was appointed to serve as anatomical artist at the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra.

Works

Reference books

• Froggatt, Walter W. (1927). Forest Insects and Timber Borers. Illustrated by E. A. King. Sydney, New South Wales: A. J. Kent, Government Printer.
• Kinghorn, J. R. (1929). Snakes of Australia. Illustrated by E. A. King. Sydney, Australia: Angus & Robertson.

Children's books

• Honey, W. H. (1934). Bush Creatures. Illustrated by E. A. King. Sydney, New South Wales: W. H. Honey Publishing Co.
• Higgins, Kathleen (1937). Betty in Bushland. Illustrated by Pixie O'Harris and E. A. King. Sydney, New South Wales: Angus & Robertson.

Death

King died on 1 January 1939 at a private hospital in Darlinghurst, New South Wales and was cremated.

References

1. ^ "Obituary". The Northern Star. New South Wales, Australia. 11 January 1939. p. 9. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "A Lismore Artist". The Northern Star. Vol. 51. New South Wales, Australia. 4 December 1926. p. 16. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Art and Botany". The Sun. No. 979. New South Wales, Australia. 1 January 1922. p. 18. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
4. ^ "Miss E A King". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 528. New South Wales, Australia. 18 January 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
5. Leeson, Alison (23 October 2013). "Ethel King – Painter of all things natural". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
6. Egan, Patricia (9 January 2014). "A Fishy Tale from 1926". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
7. Stead, David G. (25 December 1929). "A Study of Australian Snakes". The Sydney Mail. Vol. XXXVI, no. 926. New South Wales, Australia. p. 16. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Our Animals". The Herald. No. 17, 263. Victoria, Australia. 12 September 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 514. New South Wales, Australia. 2 January 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 515. New South Wales, Australia. 3 January 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

External links

• Photograph of Ethel A. King preparing a Queensland groper for exhibition
• Illustrations of snakes by Ethel A. King

• 1879 births
• 1939 deaths
• Australian illustrators
• Scientific illustrators
• Australian naturalists