Unknown (Belgian?)
St George and the Dragon
Bronze, size unknown
Presented by Alexander Mollison, 1863; auctioned 1943
Unidentified; present location unknown
Various early sources help piece together the history and origins of this work. The 1863 Age report on donations solicited in England and Ireland by Sir Redmond Barry identifies the donor as Alexander Fullerton Mollison (1805-85), an early pastoralist who lived in Victoria during the 1830s-40s and again from 1873. See also Unknown (Italian 19C?) Christ and Joseph {1885} NGV [PA] (donated in honour of Mollison by his sister, after his death).
AR 1870-71 lists this work, under metalwork, as “St George and the Dragon – Belgium.” It is probably the small sculpture dimly visible in the background of one of the 1872 photographs of the Melbourne Public Library’s Picture Gallery (detail reproduced here).
[photo: detail of 1872 photo of NGV Picture Gallery (SLV H96.160/1793)]
Refs.
“Donations” (1863); AR 1870-71, p.34 (Schedule XXXIII); NGV 1894, p.105 (V.Buvelot Gallery, 1st bay, no.84)
For A.F.Mollison, see http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mollison-alexander-fullerton-2466 (by Gael Thomsen, 1st publ. in ADB vol.2, 1967). See also 1943 auction of NGV sculpture (no.16: sold for £12)