Leather worn through at the toes, broken laces, and soles coming apart. These boots were worn to the bitter end and seemed to serve their wearer well. But were they fit for purpose? Worn by a miner at the Stockton Borehole Colliery, at Teralba, Lake Macquarie, where coal was mined from 1901, boots like these […]
Cattle and sheep now roam the paddocks, and wheat crops stretch as far as the eye can see, but the area now known as Tambar Springs on the North West Slopes region was long the domain of enormous, flat-nosed kangaroos: Procoptodon goliah. Weighing over 200kg, it used its height of 2m to graze from tall […]
When it comes to design sensibilities today, I think many would describe this tureen as somewhat gaudy – particularly because any extravagant covered dish for serving soup would be a strange addition to modern dinner tables. However, this style of decorative art was once considered the height of refinement. Emerging from the salons of early […]
It is hard to know exactly how William Edwards (1819-1899) must have felt arriving to Melbourne in 1857. At the very least, he must have been slightly more comfortable than the average English traveller at the time. In an arrangement reserved only for noteworthy passengers, he had travelled in the chief cabin of the Blanche […]
One step removed from the sweltering heat of the forge, smoke billows from a chimney between towering trees. Small figures are at work around the refinery – surveying, shoving, and squatting. Steep slopes of earth disappear into the distance of a spotless sky. This sterling silver goblet was made by William Edwards (1819-1899) and retailed […]
Before the 1850s, Australian silverware was incredibly scarce. The nature of settlement, including a low population and lack of materials, meant silversmithing was an extravagance. That is, until the discovery of silver, especially in Broken Hill, made it possible for a few talented craftsmen to become prolific manufacturers. Joachim Wendt (1830-1917) was one of the […]
Splotches of rich auburn resting on red earth, smears wandering in small patches of shade, and above all, heat. The only thing missing is the drone of flies above the steer’s head. Bullocks Resting by John Salvana (1873-1956) captures a pastoral image that has long captivated settlers in Australia. Pastoralist art presents country life, particularly […]
This little silver mug, with its matching porringer bowl, might have been presented to the parents of a fortunate baby in the early 1900s. Baby-sized sets of silver tableware have been popular christening gifts since they were first introduced in Stuart England. Given by godparents, they were a kind of good-luck charm, invoking prosperity and […]
Have you ever wondered what your ancestors from different branches of the family tree might say to one another – how they might get along – if they were to meet and have a cup of tea together? In Not a tourist (2017), Carol Macgregor imagines how her Aboriginal great-grandmother, Annie, and her Scottish grandmother, […]
Like the artist who painted it, A Dry Billabong, Gunnedah, NSW (1950) is caught between worlds. John Salvana’s (1873-1956) portrayal of gum trees baking in the sun is typical for its time, even somewhat passé. The artwork captures the Australian landscape in an Impressionist style, a manner which had originated in France in the 1870s […]
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