Case 14
- Women Illustrators
Olga P. Burton. Stories of bird and bush. Illustrations by Lily Daff. Auckland: Oswald-Sealy, 1943.
This little book of stories about New Zealand native birds and plants was written by Olga P. Burton (née Meyer) and intended primarily for children. It has been issued in three editions between 1943 and 1998.
The illustrations were painted by Lily Daff at the time of her employment at the Otago University Museum, under the direction of ornithologists appointed by the Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.
Olga P. Burton. Stories of bird and bush. Illustrations by Lily Daff. Auckland: Oswald-Sealy, 1943.
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Mollie Miller Atkinson. Bird watching. Wellington: Reed, 1946.
Mollie Miller Atkinson (1909-1950) was an Invercargill-born silversmith whose style was within the Arts and Crafts tradition. After contracting tuberculosis, she turned to painting and writing, authoring the children’s story Richard-Bird in the bush (1944) and its sequels.
On display is the first edition of her 1946 book Bird watching, with the dust jacket art featuring the male (left) and female (right) of the tiny rifleman. This book includes the description of New Zealand birds but is also to some degree a journal of the author’s personal observations during a lengthy period of illness.
Molly Falla. A sketchbook of New Zealand birds. Wellington: Reed, 1966.
Elayne Mary (Molly) Falla (1903-78) was an artist known for her paintings of birds. She was the wife of long-time director of the Dominion Museum, ornithologist Robert A. Falla.
She enjoyed drawing wildlife (chiefly invertebrates) from an early age, and in relatively late life, took to sketching and painting birds of sea and bush while residing at Day’s Bay, Wellington. She was persuaded by her husband, with a little reluctance, that to ensure anatomical accuracy in her art, she would need to examine deceased specimens as well as observing them in the wild.
Molly Falla. A pocketful of penguins. Wellington: Reed, 1970.
Elayne Mary (Molly) Falla (1903-78) was an artist known for her paintings of birds. She was the wife of long-time director of the Dominion Museum, ornithologist Robert A. Falla.
She enjoyed drawing wildlife (chiefly invertebrates) from an early age, and in relatively late life, took to sketching and painting birds of sea and bush while residing at Day’s Bay, Wellington. She was persuaded by her husband, with a little reluctance, that to ensure anatomical accuracy in her art, she would need to examine deceased specimens as well as observing them in the wild.
