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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

The Burke

Jo's mo show
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Style guide
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Beards
 

A big daddy of a beard; long; bushy; rugged, but not unkempt; typically found on the faces of explorers, bushrangers or others with an excessively developed sense of their own daring, potency and adventurousness.

Not uncommon either on men from other walks of life, it’s a style exemplifying the 1850s to 1870s idea that beards were an outward sign of the masculine qualities most valued in blokey Victorian times.

The Burke
Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition
William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition
Nicholas Chevalier
William Saurin Lyster
Max Meldrum
1 The Burke. 2 Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861 Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill. 3 William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861 Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill. 4 Nicholas Chevalier, c. 1867 Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co. 5 William Saurin Lyster, mid to late 1860s Davies & Co. 6 Max Meldrum, 1951 Graeme Inson. © Harvey Shore.
Jo's mo show
(with beards)
Style guide
Beards
The Brougham
The Burke
The Parkes
The Lyster
The Hooker
The Lambert
The Cohen
The Hubert
The Gibb
Mo and beard timeline
Style guide
Who's Jo?

Related information

Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Jo's mo show

(with beards)

Previous exhibition, 2011

This exhibition illustrates changes in beards, moustaches and sideburns from the 1780s to the 1980s.
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The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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