Works included in this catalogue
Davies (H.) View on the River Yarra {1871} SLV [WT]
* Davies (H.) The Wreck {1871} Loc? [WT]
Born in Cornwall, Davies arrived in Melbourne by 1853. Initially, he was hailed as a fine water-colourist in the tradition of Turner, but later opinion was more critical, an 1863 reviewer describing one of his coastal views as “indeterminate.”
Refs.
There is an informative biography by Jane Lennon in Kerr Dictionary (1992), pp.196-98, updated in 2011: see http://www.daao.org.au/bio/henry-easom-davies/biography/ (with details of relevant reviews, including the 1863 one quoted, from the Illustrated Melbourne Post). Davies is also listed in Mallalieu (1976), p.78, noting that he is documented as a drawing teacher at Hull College in 1851. See also Bénézit 4, p.490 and AKL 24 (2000), p.480 (entry by R.Smith). His second name varies in different sources (Eason, Casson, Casom), but Easom appears to be correct