Benjamin Law

Benjamin Law (1807-1882) was an English sculptor who worked in Australia. Career and life Law was born on 4 February 1807 in Sheffield, to John Law (silversmith). He married Hannah Ellen Hilliard in October 1834, just prior to their emigration to Australia on the ship Sarah, arriving in Hobart Town on 15 February 1835. The Laws were Master and Mistress of the Infant School in Hobart Town, and it was during their work there, circa 1835–1836, that Law completed the portrait busts of Woureddy (also written as Wouraddy, a Tasmanian Aboriginal chief of the Brune Island) and his wife, Trucaninny. Copies of the busts were sold overseas and the sculptures were exhibited by Launceston resident Henry Dowling at the 1866-67 Intercolonial Exhibition in Melbourne. They have been described as the most outstanding sculpture of the 19th century in Australia. The busts were purchased by Judah Solomon (a convict turned businessman), and there could be as many as 30 casts made, with 20 known to be held in private and public collections. There are copies in the Dumoutier's collection in the Musée de l'Homme, Paris. Plomley has suggested that other busts of Aboriginal people within this collection are also by Law.