 The State Library 's punchbowl was the earlier of the two to become more widely known . It was presented to the Library by Sydney antiques dealer , auctioneer and collector , William Augustus Little , in November 1926 , an event reported in the Sydney Evening News on 3 November 1926 . The punchbowl discovery itself was reported in several Australian newspapers earlier in March , including the The Sydney Morning Herald on 4 March 1926 , with the title Bookshop Find : Relic of Early Sydney . These newspaper articles state that Little bought the punchbowl from London antiquarian bookseller , Francis Edwards Ltd of 83 Marylebone High Street and that Little subsequently had it appraised by experts from the Victoria and Albert Museum ( V & A ) in February 1926 . The newspapers report that the V & A wished to keep the bowl . The articles also state that the bowl had " paintings of Sydney in 1810 , executed to the order of Major Antill who was Governor Macquarie 's aide @-@ de @-@ camp " . Among the clientele of Francis Edwards Ltd were some of the noted Australiana collectors of the day , including William Dixon , James Edge @-@ Partington , David Scott Mitchell and the Mitchell Library itself . 
