Pencil, walrus, toothbrush or handlebar? This cup protects them all. The porcelain ledge across its rim kept the moustaches of Victorian gentleman from getting wet or stained as they sipped their hot beverages. This highly specialised kind of crockery is said to have been invented in the mid-1860s by the potter Harvey Adams, who clearly […]
Today in 2024, the Australian Republic movement is alive and well, and even though our coins still show the Monarch, you would have to visit a state institution such as Parliament House to see a full portrait of the King. However, this was not always the case. Australian loyalty to the British Monarchy was traditionally […]
Standing in front of this portrait of Queen Victoria you might wonder why there are vertical lines running through it but stepping to either side solves this mystery. A step to the right reveals a portrait of Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and a step to the left reveals a portrait of his wife, […]
Margaret Prendergast was born on the 2nd of May 1854 in Clonpet, Tipperary in Ireland. Only eighteen years later and half a world away in southern New South Wales, Margaret became the school teacher at St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Holbrook, a town which at that time was known as Germanton. These silver cufflinks were […]
The tables of wealthy colonists in Australia benefited greatly from the immigration of Danish and German silversmiths in the 1850s. Immigration programs to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, coupled with discoveries of gold, lured many young men to the colonies after they had completed their apprenticeships. Joachim Wendt was one of them, alongside Christian Qwist, Julius […]
Alfred William Eustace (1820-1907) was born in England and came to Australia with his wife Sarah and children in 1851. Among his paintings he recorded the first paddle steamer to arrive at Albury in 1855, as well as a painting of the Woolshed gold rush, one of only two known paintings of this gold field. […]
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
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this site contains stories, images, voices, and video of people who have died.
Some material may contain terms that reflect common usage of the period in which it was written or recorded but may not be considered appropriate today. Such terms do not reflect the views of Museums and Galleries of NSW and are provided only to reflect historical context.