Joshua Payne (1810–1889), engraver and die-sinker, arrived in Adelaide around 1849 and was soon after employed by the Adelaide Assay Office. Here he produced the dies for the £1 and £5 gold coins minted in 1852. The Argus of November 1853 commented on the examples of ‘good heraldic engraving’ Payne exhibited at the Victorian Industrial Society exhibition of that year. Payne’s work also encompassed drawing and he exhibited at the 1863 exhibition of the South Australian Society of Arts. In the 1870s he also published a short-lived comic newspaper, the Mirror. His death notice in the Advertiser describes him as having been ‘a confirmed invalid for the four years prior to his death’ in May 1889. He was survived by his wife and five children.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
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