Inside the Collection

Photograph of Wasekaseka, sperm whale teeth / plant fibre

Pacific objects in focus #4: ‘Wasekaseka’ whale’s tooth neckpiece

November 13, 2014

Melanie Pitkin
If I had to single out one of my favourite pieces of Pacific ornament being showcased in A fine possession: jewellery and identity, it would have to be the wasekaseka neckpiece. Comprising twenty-six sperm whale’s teeth split lengthways, the wasekaseka is among Fiji’s best known types of jewellery that were typically made by Tongan and Samoan craftsmen who lived there.
Photograph of N11162 Anzac Remembrance Day Badge

Remembrance Day 2014

November 11, 2014

Anni Turnbull
Every year, on 11 November at 11 am – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we pause to remember those men and women who have died or suffered in all wars, conflicts and peace operations.
Steam road roller made by Aveling and Porter Ltd

Mechanisation of road building – 1923 steam road-roller

November 10, 2014

Margaret Simpson
Were you one of the many Australian children who played on old steamrollers set up in municipal parks after they were no longer required by local councils? Steamrollers, more correctly called road-rollers, were the last type of steam vehicles used on roads.
Photograph of Neckpiece, 'Semi-breve'

Margaret West, jeweller (1936-2014)

November 5, 2014

Anni Turnbull
“At present I am concerned with certain metaphysical, psychological and social aspects of jewellery-with its ability to inform and transform'. Margaret West, 1982 * Margaret West was an influential jeweller, lecturer as well as poet and writer.
Les Welch playing the piano

LES WELCH (1925–2014)

November 1, 2014

Peter Cox
As a bandleader, singer and musician in the late 1940s and 1950s, Les Welch brought the sounds of popular jazz and blues to Sydney’s dancehalls and nightclubs. He developed a reputation for his piano playing, his vocal style and a repertoire that mixed rhythm & blues, trad jazz, boogie-woogie and pop.
Maurice Guillaux relaxing on board HMAT Orvieto after departing Australia

The Story of Australia’s First Airmail-Part 11

October 29, 2014

Kerrie Dougherty
After thrilling Australian audiences with his airshows and making history by flying the first airmail, in September 1914 Maurice Guillaux realised one of the plans he had made earlier in the year by establishing a flying school at Ham Common, which is now the site of Richmond RAAF Base, to the west of Sydney.
Dr David Lewis, happy on his arrival in Cape Horn, South Africa, March 1974

Ice Bird – the unsinkable boat

October 27, 2014

Kate Chidlow
Restoration of the sailing boat that made the first single handed voyage to Antarctica Dr David Lewis was a courageous sailor, an extra-ordinary navigator and an adventurer with big dreams. He was the first navigator in modern times to cross the Pacific Ocean without using instruments, following a legendary Maori course from Tahiti to New Zealand.
Hei-tiki, pounamu (nephrite jade)

Pacific objects in focus #3: New Zealand hei-tiki

October 22, 2014

Melanie Pitkin
The hei-tiki is the most famous of all Maori jewellery items. Humanoid in shape, they are typically characterised by a tilting head, huge, gaping open mouth, large, bulbous eyes, splayed hips with arms akimbo and a pronounced and often dilated vulval area (Starzeka 1996: p.43)*.
Photograph, 'Gough Whitlam pouring soil into the hands of traditional owner Vincent Lingiari', by Mervyn Bishop, Northern Territory, Australia, 1975

Farewell Gough Whitlam (1916- 2014)

October 21, 2014

Anni Turnbull
Former Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam led Australia through a period of massive social change from 1972 to 1975 before his ousting by governor-general Sir John Kerr. The photograph above was taken in 1975 at a land hand back ceremony for the Gurindji people in the Northern Territory.
Candlestick with removable insert

History repeats itself with the new rail link at Castle Hill

October 20, 2014

Anni Turnbull
When people from the Hills District catch the new North West Rail Link in 2019 it will not be the first time a railway has come through the area. In 1901 construction began on a tramline that ran between Parramatta and Baulkham Hills with the primary purpose of carrying fruit and goods, as the Hills District was well-known for its plentiful orchards.