Person

King, Ethel Anne (1879 - 1939)

Born
1879
Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
Died
1 January 1939
Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Zoological artist

Summary

Ethel King was a zoological artist who had studied with the famous Australian artist Julian Ashton. In 1922 she was appointed assistant to Margaret Flockton at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. She is mostly known, however, for her zoological work. Entomologist Walter Froggatt engaged her to produce illustrations or his book Forest insects and timber borers (1927). Much of her was work was on commission for the Australian Museum during the 1920s and 1930s. One of her major achievements was to produce 136 snake illustrations that were published in James Kinghorn's Snakes of Australia (1929). King's work at the Museum was wide-ranging, as she moved between departments and worked with different curators. Her watercolours of Australian fauna were produced as a series of postcards in 1929. She was also responsible for painting preserved specimens being prepared for display, the backdrops and some models used for dioramas, and over 500 of the Museum's lantern slides. Shortly before her death King was appointed to serve as anatomical artist at the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra.

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Details

Chronology

1909 - 1913
Education - Studied applied arts, North Sydney Technical College
1922
Career event - Appointed assistant to Margaret Flockton, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
1924 - 1939
Career position - Zoological artist, Australian Museum

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Published resources

Books

  • Froggatt, Walter W., Forest insects and timber borers (Sydney: Government Printer, 1927), 107 pp. Details
  • Kinghorn, J. R., Snakes of Australia (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1929), 198 pp. Details

Resource Sections

See also

Helen Cohn

Created: 1 September 2026

EOAS ID: biogs/P008149b.htm

This Edition: 2026 August - Bibliographies
Larneuk - Gariwerd calendar - Pre-spring: late July to August - season of nesting birds
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-larneuk-season-of-nesting-birds

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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