Improvident Diggers
Twenty pounds was a great deal of money in 1852, well over $1000 in modern value. Champagne, as it is today, was a symbol of wealth, even though the champagne which these diggers are drinking is probably of very inferior quality. Gill made other prints showing the opposite situation: 'provident' diggers who saved their money and bought land.
S T Gill, etching, 1852.
Accession number: H17853
From the State Library of Victoria Picture Collection.
