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AUSTRALASIA’S ONLY BI-MONTHLY ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2009-MARCH 2010

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Holiday Edition More to read. More to collect

Collecting in Queensland Places to see, collectables to buy

Ancient Crafts Used in modern arts

A New Take on Silver Young artisans - experimental, exciting and great to collect

Aust $9.95 NZ $13.95 ISSN 1445-8160

9 771445 816006

feature articles ancient arts updated 6 20

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Roman Glass: Combining history with art Melody Amsel-Arieli Chinoiserie: European notions of the Orient Matthew Martin Contemporary UK silver Amanda Stücklin Centuries of enamelling: Popular forms and functions Paul Rosenberg Biblical blue dyeing techniques rediscovered Melody Amsel-Arieli

Queensland heritage

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Fish scale embroidery from the Embroiderers Guild Queensland Collection Margaret Young EH Mears Photographic Collection: Rural Queensland 1920s – 1950s Bernie and Gayle Carroll Queensland geniuses on show: the Southern Cross Museum Jody Ashford and Christine Ingram Toowoomba Grammar School Museum: 19th century boys’ schooling John K Winn

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military memorabilia 32 36

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Yeppoon RSL Military Museum Michelle Edgar Do’s and don’ts for collectors of military memorabilia Michelle Edgar Military fashions and accessories: History to collect Matt Holmes

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Canine dog tags from WA goldfields Peter Lane Rare coins: prices rising An apothecary box The Workshop Hagenauer Wien: the first 40 years 1898 – 1938 Ronald Hagenauer Majolica (not to be confused with maiolica) explained Oil and kerosene lamps and lanterns: private viewing of a collection Rob Ditessa

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holiday feature 62

Deck your halls: Collectables as festive decorations

travel to 78

collect 42

A collectable at every port on the Brisbane River

out & about regular features 94

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cover B&W photograph of school cricket team coutesy Toowoomba Grammar School

Fred Noller’s Friesian group (dairy cattle) at the Kingaroy Show, 11 April 1935 by Harold Mears, courtesy Kumbia & District Historical Society Inc.

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Roman glass 1

Glass has been made for more than 35 centuries and as such is a record of civilisation; a time capsule reflecting its maker, the techniques, practices and styles for which it was made. Today we take it for granted but in the ancient world it was a luxury and highly prized Melody Amsel-Arieli DEFINITION lass is shiny, hard and yet fragile, able to shatter in an instant or survive for thousands of years. Natural glass (obsidian) is produced by volcanic activity.

Hand-made glass was created by accident according to Roman historian Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79).

He wrote that when Phoenician seafaring merchants came ashore, they propped their cooking cauldrons on lumps of natron, a natural occurring salt taken from their vessel. As the natron heated, it melted into the surrounding sand, forming a transparent liquid that flowed in streams. When cooled the liquid hardened into glass.

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Whether truth or legend, by about 2000 BCE, Phoenician vessels were plying the Mediterranean ports with cargoes of core-formed glass flasks and juglets.

In core-form work, a technique developed in ancient Egypt, craftsmen either trailed liquid glass over clay cores attached to metal rods or dipped rods repeatedly into molten glass to build up depth.

After cooling, the clay was scraped out and they added features such as handles.

Decorations such as trails of contrasting strands of molten glass in colourful coiling or zigzag patterns were sometimes added.

Called unguentaria, these opaque vials had bell bottoms, thick walls

and tall slender necks that protected contents such as expensive unguents or oils from evaporation.

In another early technique, glassworkers poured coloured molten glass into single or interlocking moulds. After cooling the rough creations were ground and polished smooth, then handles, rims and bases were added. Since both core-form and mould techniques were time consuming and laborious, ancient glass was rare and costly.

The Romans adopted the material and contributed greatly to its development. The most significant event was the discovery of glassblowing, probably circa 50 BCE along a part of the SyrianPalestine coast, then part of the Roman Empire. This discovery opened the way for the eventual mass production of glass.

Emperor Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE) brought to Rome Judean, Syrian and Egyptian slave glassworkers who passed on the technique of glassblowing, along with traditional glass making practices

AUSTRALIANA COLLECTABLE

Canine dog tags FROM THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN GOLDFIELDS

Even 150 years ago dog control was high on the political agenda and each state introduced legislation that addressed this issue. Moreover, the laws relating to responsible ownership were very similar to concerns of today. Dog tags came to play an important role in civilising remote Western Australian goldfields and form part of Australia’s cultural history and are worthy of collecting.

1 1 Mt. Magnet dog tag, 1907. Registration No. 21

Peter Lane og tags of the canine variety rarely attract the attention of collectors; however they are a true Australiana collectable. The tags often have an armorial design or State emblem on them, the locality and license number details. At a recent Perth Numismatic Society coin fair a dealer had seven dog tags dating from the Edwardian era to the Great Depression from the Murchison goldfields, which is a few

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hundred kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. The dog tags were snapped up.

The first Dog Act of Western Australia was introduced in 1841, a little over a decade after formal European settlement in Perth. The Act was passed so annoying dogs could be removed. Owners were only required to register them at their local municipalities. The Act was amended on a number of occasions, but it was not until 1903 that dogs had to wear tags.

Registration tags had to be made of metal, be a prescribed shape (changed yearly), and record the district, year and registration number.

The reason the shape changed annually was so that the pound keepers could easily see if a dog was currently registered without having to get too close to the animal.

DOG POPULATION WA dog numbers have not been centrally recorded so it is difficult to say how many dogs were in the

Fish scale EMBROIDERY Continuing our series on the gentle arts, from Queensland come two remarkable embroideries, an art form that can be traced back to the 2nd millennium BCE.

Margaret Young DEFINITION ish scale embroidery is a floral design consisting of fish scales cut in the shape of flower petals.

Many of the scales are fairly large and roughly cut. The embroidery is minimal with the design dependent on the placement of the fish scales. Fish scale embroidery was very popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It is mentioned in Barbara J Morris’ book Victorian Embroidery where she gives a brief description of how the scales were prepared: ‘The fish scales had to be prepared before use and the iridescent scales of the carp, perch, or goldfish were considered the most suitable. They were scraped from the fish with a knife and steeped in cold water until soft and

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pliable, and two small holes were pieced with a needle near the base of each scale. The scales were then coloured by a mixture of varnish and powdered colour after which they were ready to be sewn to the ground by silk thread, and were arrange in overlapping patterns to represent the petals of flowers, such as roses, or the shape of birds and butterflies. Stems, veins, tendrils and other fine details were worked in chenille thread, gold thread of filoselle. The centres of flowers were filled in with French knots worked in silk or with pearls, glass beads or spangles.’

TOWNSVILLE EMBROIDERY The work is constructed on a foundation of black satin. The thread used to represent the centre of the flowers is perle thread (lemon) worked as French knots.

Loosely worked stem stitch (fawn perle thread) is used for the stems and leaves. The item is very fragile.

PROVENANCE The embroidery had been a framed picture hanging in Meryl Herbert’s family home in Townsville. In the aftermath of Cyclone Althea in the early 1970s, the embroidery was placed in storage in the garage and forgotten. Over the years Meryl spoke many times of this unusual embroidery, remembering the brilliance and freshness of the piece.

About the embroidery, Meryl wrote: ‘This piece of fish scale embroidery was in my greatgrandmother’s home in Crawford Street, West End, Townsville, for as long as I can remember. I always admired it and was told it was made of fish scales, but nothing else. It has to be more than 70 years old.’

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