THE TRAGIC GAP

An   apparent   intent  to  suicide  by  a  woman   at  The Gap,  Sydney  Heads  , seems to be  the  subject  of  a  circa l880  watercolour  on  paper  by the little known colonial artist Ernest Decimus Stocks (1840-1921), recently offered  by  Douglas Stewart  Fine  Books , Melbourne, for $3300.

 Information supplied   drew  attention  to the  ghostly  figure on the lower left of  the picture , beyond  the safety fence , bent  forward  , as  if  about to throw  herself off  the precipice. The first suicide at The Gap , notorious for  such  sad  events , took  place on  October  6, 1863 , when  Anne Harrison, wife of  The Gap Hotel licensee , jumped  to  her death .

Manchester born  Stocks  came to South Australia in the early 1850s , worked as a teacher , travelled to Western Australia , the Whitsunday Islands, New Zealand,Tasmania ,  Melbourne  and   Ballarat .  He  did  many  views of Sydney.  It  is believed  the  above  painting  was  one  of 31 prizes in an 1880 art union he ran in  which  there  were  800 tickets  for  ten  shillings  each .