Known as the ‘miner’s mate,’ windlasses started to spring up on the morrillas (limestone ridges) of the Yuwaalaraay lands known as Wallangulla in 1900. Fast forward nine years, and the skyline of what had become known as ‘Lunatic Hill’ was littered with them. Used to winch up dirt-encrusted opals in ox-hide buckets to be picked […]
This simple tray made in the 1980s has the innocent look of a home craft project. But it was made by a prisoner at Maitland Gaol (in operation 1848-1998) where Australia’s most notorious and hardened criminals were locked away. Despite their crimes, many Maitland prisoners put their time inside to good use. To keep prisoners […]
Like most pieces of iron machinery made in the nineteenth century, this ‘Ewbank Jewel’ laundry mangle was built to last. And last it did, now as solid and sturdy as the day it left the Entwhistle & Kenyon factory in Lancashire, England, sometime after 1875. Mangles were used to quickly flatten sheets, towels and tablecloths, […]
Museums & Galleries of NSW acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands that comprise the state now known as NSW.
We pay respect to them as First Nations people with a continuing connection to land, place, waters and community
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