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Ethel King was a talented artist and scientific illustrator who worked for the Australian Museum and other institutions during the 1920’s and 30’s. She devoted her time to illustrating snakes and fish, and sometimes did botanical illustrations as well. She created watercolours for various publications, including Kinghorn’s ‘Snakes of Australia’ and the ‘Australian Encyclopedia’.

This is a small selection of original watercolour plates which Ethel king produced for the book ‘Snakes of Australia’, first published in 1929. There are a total of 137 plates of line drawn snakes on cardboard in this collection.


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Illustrations by Ethel King for Roy Kinghorn’s ‘Snakes of Australia’ (1929) Image: Unknown
© Courtesy of the Australian Museum

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Illustrations by Ethel King for Roy Kinghorn’s ‘Snakes of Australia’ (1929) Image: Unknown
© Courtesy of the Australian Museum

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Illustrations by Ethel King for Roy Kinghorn’s ‘Snakes of Australia’ (1929) Image: Unknown
© Courtesy of the Australian Museum