Illustrated Publications

Please contact us if you would like or have further information regarding the works listed.

Arrows of Longing (published 1921)

Maurice, Furnley, Arrows of Longing, Alexander McCubbin, Melbourne, 1921, 114 pages, 6 colour illustrations, 29 cm, limited edition of two hundred copies (illustrated by Ethel Spowers; introduction by Bernard O’Dowd)

Image: Cover of Arrows of Longing, leather bound by Ellison Spowers, sister of Ethel Spowers
Private Collection

Ethel Spowers
Dreams that the Blue Night Carries [Arrows of Longing] (1920)
watercolour photomechanically reproduced, 19.2 x 12.7 cm

Location of original watercolour unknown

Ethel Spowers
For I Asked my Heart whom she Loved [Arrows of Longing] (1920)
watercolour photomechanically reproduced, 12.0 x 10.2 cm

Location of original watercolour unknown

Ethel Spowers
If I sing Well Enough [Arrows of Longing] (1920)
watercolour photomechanically reproduced, 15.5 x 11.4 cm

Location of original watercolour unknown

Ethel Spowers
Now Life’s but a Lingering [Arrows of Longing] (1920)
watercolour photomechanically reproduced, 19.2 x 15 cm

Location of original watercolour unknown

Ethel Spowers
When the Moon Comes [Arrows of Longing] (1920)
watercolour photomechanically reproduced, 13.2 x 10.2 cm

Location of original watercolour unknown

Ethel Spowers
With Fanged Fates [Arrows of Longing] (1920)
watercolour photomechanically reproduced, 19.2 x 13.5 cm

Location of original watercolour unknown

Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial Volume (published 1926)

Vidler, Edward (ed.), The Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial Volume, The Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1926, lvi & 234 pages, [18] leaves of plates, illustrated (some coloured), 29 cm (five black and white illustrations by Ethel Spowers)

Australian Home Beautiful (published 1926)

‘Stocking the Linen Cupboard,’ The Australian Home Beautiful, United Press Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2 January 1928, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 34-36 (each illustration signed in image)

Cheery Chantings (published 1929)

Jessop, Jessica, Cheery Chantings: a Book of Rhymes, Frances Taylor, Melbourne, 1929, (Dust-jacket illustrated by Ethel Spowers)

Cuthbert and the Dogs (published circa 1947)

Spowers, Ethel, Cuthbert and the Dogs, Digest Juvenile Productions, Melbourne, circa 1947, [32] pages, with colour illustrations, 20 x 29 cm

Image: Courtesy of Bonhams

Ethel Spowers
(And you need not tell me all those lies for cats and dogs do not eat pies) [Cuthbert and the Dogs] (1936-1947)
watercolour, ink and pencil, 23.5 x 36.5 cm

Location: Private Collection

Ethel Spowers
(Mother was scarcely out of sight when in they rushed, left and right) [Cuthbert and the Dogs] (1936-1947)
watercolour, ink and pencil, 23.5 x 36.5 cm

Location: Private collection

Ethel Spowers
Cuthbert and the Dogs 1936-1947
pencil on transparent paper, 21.5 x 56.5 cm

Collection: Private Collection

The Story of the Red Cross (published circa 1941-1942)

Lindsay, Daryl and Lindsay, Joan, The story of the Red Cross, Australian Red Cross Society, Melbourne, circa 1941-1942, [106] pages, illustrated (some colour), 28 cm, issued both in a general edition and in a limited edition of 300 signed and numbered copies. (internal double page illustration by Ethel Spowers dated 1941)

Ethel Spowers
The Junior Red Cross Works in Every Land 1941
offset lithograph printed in colours after a linocut, 25.1 x 41.8 cm

Image: courtesy of Bonhams

Ethel Spowers
The Junior Red Cross Works in Every Land 1941
colour linocut

No impression traced
Image of published reproduction courtesy of Bonhams

Unpublished works

Ethel Spowers was developing several children’s stories with accompanying illustrations that were never published. The illustrations were composed on light weight (transparent/tracing) paper, with a few finalised illustrations completed in watercolour on heavier paper. These stories and illustrations were retained by the descendants of Ethel Spowers for many years with a tranche being auctioned in 1996. This select group of material was again sold in 2000, and subsequently broken up and re-offered for sale as individual works after this time. Since 2000, many now bear a black stamp marked ‘Ethel Spowers’; this stamp is not a studio or estate stamp. Please note that a few illustrations on light weight (transparent/tracing) paper have been painted with watercolours; this colour addition is not by the artist. A selection of stories and illustrations from these unpublished works are listed below.

Silly Peggy (Unpublished)

Spowers, Ethel, Silly Peggy, unpublished, (1936-1947), originally comprising twenty one (21) pencil illustrations on paper and tracing paper, one a picnic scene, with watercolour editions, various sizes, including three title pages and typed pages of narrative poem. As of 2022, eighteen (18) illustrations have been identified as remaining together.

Image: Courtesy of Josef Lebovic Gallery

Ethel Spowers
(And when mother says… look now, Peggy dear…) [Silly Peggy] (1936-1947)
watercolour, 18.5 x 27.6 cm (sheet)

Location: Unknown, last recorded 1985

Careless Kate (Unpublished)

Spowers, Ethel, Careless Kate, unpublished, (1936-1947), comprising twenty (20) pencil and ink sketches, various sizes including a title page, drawn on paper card and tracing paper together with typed pages of narrative poem

Ethel Spowers
(They got to school in time to play…) [Careless Kate] (1936-1947)
watercolour, 18.5 x 27.6 cm (sheet)

Location: Unknown, last recorded 1985

Ethel Spowers
(Crossing the Road) [Careless Kate] (1936-1947)
pencil, 20 x 32 cm

Location: Unknown, last recorded 2001

Ethel Spowers
(In Time for School) [Careless Kate] (1936-1947)
ink and pencil on paper, 19.5 x 32 cm

Location: Private Collection
Image: Courtesy Lawsons

Ethel Spowers
(Skipping Rope) [Careless Kate] (1936-1947)
pencil, 19.5 x 32 cm

Location: Unknown, last recorded 2000
Image Courtesy of Menzies

Ethel Spowers
(The Family Eating Ice-Cream) [Careless Kate] (1936-1947)
pencil, 20.5 x 30.5 cm

Ethel Spowers
(Waving at Passing Traffic) [Careless Kate] (1936-1947)
pencil, 20 x 32 cm

The Little Red Purse (Unpublished)

Spowers, Ethel, The Little Red Purse, unpublished, (1936-1947), pencil on tracing paper, comprising title page together with sixteen (16) pencil illustrations, along with typed narrative poem

Ethel Spowers
(Now in the Tiny House Next Door Lived an Old Woman Both Sick and Poor) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 18.2 x 26.5 cm

Ethel Spowers
(Oh Dear Cried Poor Betty What Shall I Do For I Haven’t Got a Penny to Buy Any More?) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 23 x 20 cm

Ethel Spowers
(On Saturday Morning Every Week Betty Went Out to the Stores To Seek) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 18.5 x 24 cm

Ethel Spowers
(Running to the Ice-cream Cart) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, with watercolour in a later hand, 19 x 24 cm

Location: Unknown

Ethel Spowers
(The Accident) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil, 19.5 x 24.5 cm

Location: Unknown, last recorded sighting 2019
Image: Courtesy of Gibsons

Ethel Spowers
(The Old Woman Said Dear I Thank You Indeed In This Little Red Purse is the Money You’ll Need) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 23 x 20.5 cm

Ethel Spowers
(Traffic Light) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, with watercolour in a later hand, 19 x 24 cm

Ethel Spowers
(While Betty Was Trying to Dry Her Eyes She Heard a Voice Calling with Great Surprise) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 20.5 x 25.5 cm

Ethel Spowers
(Then One Wintery Saturday Betty Was Going on Her Way) [The Little Red Purse] (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 20.5 x 25.5 cm

Ethel Spowers
(Toys) [The Little Red Purse] 1936-1947
pencil on paper, 19.5 x 24.5 cm

Location: Unknown last recorded sighting 2019
Image: Courtesy of Gibson’s

Destructive Bobby (Unpublished)

Poem text in a Private Collection

Albert Bunn (Unpublished)

Details of this material is unknown other than text being identified in 1996

Greedy Paul in the Outpatients’ Hall (Unpublished)

Details of this material is unknown other than text being identified in 1996

Three Bears (Unpublished)

Details of this material is unknown other than text being identified in 1996

(Unidentified) (Unpublished)

Ethel Spowers
(Hand in Hand) (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 20 x 32 cm

Collection: Unknown, last sighted 2001

Ethel Spowers
(Zoo Scene) (1936-1947)
pencil on paper, 25.5 x 40 cm

Collection: Private Collection

Please contact us if you would like or have further information regarding the works listed.

_{© John G. Keats}