Australiana, Vol 36 no 3, August 2014

dorothy erickson’s research for her new book Inspired by Light and Land: Designers and Makers in Western Australia 1829–1969 has uncovered more information about objects made in Western Australia and their makers. Her previous articles published in Australiana on Amy Harvey, William Howitt, Charles May and Henry Passmore were made more rewarding with the collaboration of interested family members, who had already undertaken some research or knew where works existed in the family. the research and connections of Joseph Hamblin’s descendant Jill Roy have been crucial to documenting his life and work in England, Perth and Victoria.

tracing the provenance of a Berlin woolwork picture now held in the Powerhouse Museum led to information about the involvement of the Agricultural society of New south Wales in setting up the 1870 Exhibition in sydney, a bronze medal awarded at that event, the winner of the medal and maker of this extraordinary item depicting a scene from shakespeare’s play, Henry VIII.

A beautiful late summer’s evening greeted guests to the 2014 Annual Australiana Dinner held this year in the junior common room of Edmund Blacket’s splendid mid-1850s neo-gothic building, St Paul’s College, at the University of Sydney. One of the first university colleges to be built in Australia, the sandstone walls accepted their first intake of students in 1857 and were the perfect environment for the annual lecture.

Tea drinking, that very British and colonial habit, is ingrained in our Australian culture and regarded by many as an essential daily ritual. tea is cheap and plentiful today, but this was not always the case.

John Locksley Kemp, a descendant of Richard Kemp, gave a silver medal, passed down through the Kemp family, to the Powerhouse Museum in 1984. Very little was known about the medal’s history until Karen Eaton came across it by chance while viewing the Museum’s on-line collection database. Also a descendant of Richard Kemp, an intrigued Karen set about discovering all she could about Belle Vue Hall school and its headmaster Abel trood. she explores trood’s life in England, America and Australia, reveals student life and activities at the school he established at Belle Vue Hall, and the life and demolition of the building itself.

There are many fine artists who barely rate a mention in the history of Australian art, so it was gratifying to read a long overdue biography of Charles Lloyd Jones (1878–1958). Jones is best known today as the Managing Director of David Jones department store during its boom times in the first half of the last century. While his leadership of DJ’s is certainly of interest, it is his close involvement with the visual arts that deserves to be better known.

A lengthy title, but for a magnificently appointed book. It not only provides a translation of Péron’s memoir for the first time, but insightfully explores every relevant nook and cranny of colonial history of the period. The book is considerably enhanced by art works and contemporary maps, particularly those by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur held in the Museum of Natural History, Le Havre. There are engravings by Francis Jukes and others of the time. The majority of art works are little known in the English-speaking world.

Produced from its premises in Launceston, Tasmania, Campbell’s pottery products were shipped to shops and agents in Tasmania, mainland Australia, New Zealand and as far as India and the USA. Examples can be found regularly at antique shops and auction rooms throughout Australia. The vast majority of pieces available today to collectors were produced during the 1920s to 1940s when there was a significant output of hand-thrown domestic and decorative pottery.